Safehouse
by hp4evr123
Summary: Seth imprints on Summer, a working girl with a brother and a mysterious past. As they get to know each other, Summer opens up, exposing her secrets and Seth's while growing closer to the pack. With a lunatic mother hot on their trail and few places left to run, Summer is left to decide if Seth and the pack are enough to hold her in Forks, at her safehouse. Seth/OC imprint
1. Moving to Forks

**Well, this is something that I've been tinkering with on my computer for a while now. It's my shot at an imprint story, mixed with a few more mythological/supernatural elements to keep the Twilight characters on their toes. Let me know what you think...**

I sighed as I pulled up to the small, two-bedroom, one-story house. Colton looked at me from the passenger seat, eyebrows raised in question. Through the torrential downpour, I checked the house number again. 1500 West Maple Street-it was definitely the right address.

"Come on," I said as I rolled my eyes dramatically at my moody teenage brother. Colt awarded me with a half grin as we sprinted from the car and over to the small front porch. I fumbled with the key with my cold fingers and managed to fit it into the lock without help from my brother.

The inside was simple. There was a sofa, a nice TV, an armchair. The kitchen was small, as were the bedrooms and one bathroom, but it was cozy and we had stayed in worse before. Our protectors weren't always adept at finding suitable safehouses, so this ranked among the better ones.

The house was fully furnished, which was a plus I hadn't expected, and generically decorated. Colt and I took our five boxes and four large duffels into the living room and plopped them down. The short echo was a pleasant sound.

Colt took the boyish room with the twin bed and I took what was apparently the master with the queen sized bed. We put our clothes away and set out our personal items before moving on to watch TV together in the living room.

* * *

The next morning, I picked up coffee and donuts before dropping Colt off at the junior high. I watched him disappear into the main building before I went off to the high school myself.

My classes were basic, which wasn't a bad thing, but I wasn't too crazy about any of them. At lunch, I had plenty of annoying, talkative people to sit with, but was saved by a quiet girl named Bella. She invited me to sit at a table with vampires. I accepted, of course.

"Um, this is Edward, that's Alice. What's your name?" Bella asked me with a fierce red blush. I grinned.

"You can call me Summer," I offered. Bella nodded. I wondered idly how much she knew about her two friends. Then I pondered over the possibility of there being more of them in Forks.

"Right, okay. I…asked you over because I remember how tough it was on my first day," Bella explained. I nodded thoughtfully, still stuck in my thoughts on the vampire issue.

"Where did you come from?" Alice asked. I smiled sweetly.

"Oh, you know, here and there…I've been all over," I told her quietly with a shrug. It was enough for her, but not her brother.

"You sound southern," he suggested. My eyes narrowed as I felt a light nudge in my mind. My defenses slammed up immediately, locking my mind shut. Mind reader.

"Hmm," I hummed thoughtfully. Bella broke the awkward moment quickly.

"So, Summer, what grade are you in?" she asked. Her voice sounded nervous. I turned away from Edward to look at her with a smile.

"I'll be graduating in June," I explained. Bella nodded.

"Graduation will be great. Are you missing your friends from home?" Alice asked politely. I grinned.

"Not really," I answered.

If my answers surprised these people, they didn't show it. There was something about them though that made me feel that I could trust them-which was never a good feeling around vampires.

"Are you enjoying Forks so far?" Edward asked me politely. I shrugged with my continuous smile.

"It's very different from other places that I've been," I answered carefully. He leaned in a little from across the table.

"How?" he asked. I offered a sweeter smile.

"Just…different," I said as I noted his golden eyes. Edward blinked and the bell rang. Alice offered to show me to my next class and I accepted. As we strode through the doors of the crowded cafeteria, I felt Edward's sharp eyes follow me out of the room as he held Bella to his side possessively.

* * *

That afternoon, I picked Colt up from school and went straight home to drop him off and change for work. I instructed him to lock up the house tight and to do his homework. He was to avoid video games like the plague until his work was finished, and to eat cereal for dinner.

At the club one town over, I wore a pretty mask and pretended that I was someone else. I pretended that I had a mom and dad that took care of Colt and me. I pretended that we lived in a nice house and I went to a nice school and had nice friends. My bedroom had lilac walls and a desk to do homework at. My nice friends went with me to the nice beach on the lovely weekends. I pretended a lot of nice things to keep my mind off of my job.

I made it home just in time to tell Colt goodnight as I walked straight into the shower. I knew that I would only be working a few nights out of the week; our jobs with the circus had given us plenty of money to lean on, but I wanted to stay comfortable in our lives here, and hopefully stay until the end of the school year in June.

I did my homework after my shower and collapsed onto my soft bed. Sleep claimed me quickly.


	2. Midnight Encounters

**Shout out to my first reviewer, the lovely Vampire's-Bite me! Summer is 17 going on 18 and Colton is around 13/14 years old (he's in the 8th grade at the junior high). This chapter picks up the action a little, so let me know what you think. Any guesses as to how Summer knows so much about the supernatural?**

After a couple of quick weeks, Colt and I had a steady routine to follow in the sleepy town of Forks. He went to football games or soccer matches at the junior high the nights that I worked, and I picked him up at his friend's house afterwards, late. The parents weren't too nosy, and Colton seemed to be enjoying himself as he carved a place out into his junior high world. At school, I mostly hung around with Bella and the two vampires that I had deemed-temporarily-not a threat.

* * *

Colton stepped out of the bathroom, shaking his long hair dry, a towel wrapped tightly around his waist. My brother waved to me as he went to his room to get dressed. We were treating ourselves to dinner in Port Angeles.

I fixed my makeup in the bathroom mirror while I waited for Colton. When he emerged from his room, he looked good in a pair of dark jeans and a long-sleeved gray t-shirt. He matched me, I noted, with my knee-length, long sleeved gray sweater dress. I slipped on a pair of black heels that made me just an inch shorter than Colton, and we set off for the restaurant.

In the car, Colton kept me laughing hysterically with his renditions of the songs on the radio. He liked to change the words to fit his mood, and it made me shake with laughter. When we finally pulled up to the little Italian place, my belly hurt from laughing so hard. We went inside the warm restaurant, and I shrugged out of my leather jacket as the waitress brought us to a table in the back. It was to my complete shock when I stumbled across Bella and Edward with Alice, two other boys, and a blonde girl. I smiled and waved at Bella, and Alice waved me over to their table quickly and with enthusiasm that I couldn't politely deny. I threw my jacket down on my seat and walked over, Colton hovering behind me.

Alice bounced up eagerly to greet me, and placed a quick kiss to my cheek. Her hard, stone-like lips were ice cold. Bella stood and hugged me firmly and I smiled at her.

"What's up, Summer?" Alice asked with a grin. I smiled back.

"Oh, you know…food," I said quietly. Her exuberance was almost frightening.

Alice laughed lightly, and gestured to her guests. "This is my boyfriend Jasper. And those are my brother and sister-Emmett and Rosalie," Alice explained. She glanced at Colton. "Is this your boyfriend?" she asked. I laughed as Colton made gagging noises.

"This is my brother Colton," I explained. Alice looked embarrassed as Colton reached around me to shake her hand. As soon as they made contact, Alice jumped, and Colton tensed. He pulled his hand away quickly. I smiled at everyone sitting at the table. "It's nice to meet you. I'll see you at school," I told Alice, Bella, and Edward with a smile. I took Colton's arm and we went to our table, where a waitress was waiting impatiently, snapping her gum and tapping her foot. I bit back my bitter scowl and smiled at her as she took out a small notepad and pencil.

Colton ordered for the two of us as I kept tabs on the Cullens and Bella carefully. I knew that they were watching us, Alice especially, and her golden eyes felt like weights on my shoulders. I thought we would be avoiding uncomfortable stares by traveling up to Port Angeles for dinner, but I had apparently miscalculated.

"You know…" Colton trailed off. I shook my head at him microscopically, he nodded. "There's this girl in my math class," he offered. I laughed.

"Yeah?" I asked. Colton continued rambling on about a girl named Sarah and his new friend Toby. I listened to half of what he was saying, and used my other ear to listen to the Cullens. They didn't speak very loudly, and I felt much better when they all stood and left the restaurant together.

Colt and I had a nice dinner together before we decided to head out. We drove to a small ice cream parlor and ate sundaes as I talked about my classes and how unchallenging they were. Colt assured me that this was a good thing, as I would need the extra time to go to my job and clean the house. I quipped back that if I was working, he would be the one cleaning. We bantered for a while longer before we headed back to Forks.

* * *

A few days later, I had just finished up working and was walking to my car down the street when a group of rowdy men left a bar just a few businesses behind me. I tightened the strings on my mask, pulled down my jacket to cover more skin, and began walking a little faster down the street. My heels clicked quickly across the pavement as I hurried in earnest towards my car.

I felt that quick flash of panic in me and pushed it to the side as I thought the situation out logically. Logically, it would be best to walk away from my car and enter another business until they passed, if I felt threatened or followed. It would be foolish to get in my car and head home when they could easily follow me there. And Colton was at home. I didn't want him to be vulnerable to these creepy men, too.

I steeled myself and slipped in a bar through a cracked open doorway. Inside, the smoke was thick and choking, and the stench of alcohol permeated the air. I made my way to the back quickly, wheezing from the smell of cigarettes, and squeezed between two groups of people. The bar was crowded, and I sighed in relief that I would just be lost in the crowd. I waited about twenty minutes before I ventured outside again.

I was rudely awakened from my sense of safety by a man grabbing my shoulders and dragging me down a short alley. Three other men waited there, drunk or high, I didn't take the time to notice which one. The man holding me tightened his grip and spoke to the others in a deep, slurred voice. I felt my eyes narrow in concentration as I stepped hard on his foot and rammed my elbow into his stomach. He bent over double, and I pulled my knee up to connect with his groin.

By this time, the others had closed in around me, laughing and swaying drunkenly. In the circle of strangers, I felt cornered and panicked. My heart began working double time and I felt a surge of adrenaline enter my bloodstream.

"Look, boys. This kitten has claws. She wants to play," one of them laughed. I glared at him and threw my leg out to kick him in the groin. My high heel connected with it, leaving me with a satisfied smirk as he collapsed to the ground in pain, clutching at his lower area desperately.

The other two men tried to close in on me, but one's arm stopped in front of my face as he clutched my shoulder for balance and I bit him hard just above his wrist. He jumped away, yelping, and the last one got a swift kick in the groin from me. I tried to stumble out of the alley, but one of the two still standing grabbed my hair and pulled me back. He pressed against my back and slammed my stomach to the wall.

"You're just asking for it, aren't you kitten?" he grumbled in my ear. I heard a zipper unzip and prepared myself to kick my leg back, but it was unnecessary. The man flew away from me and I heard a distant smack as he landed on the opposite wall. I pushed away from the wall quickly and grabbed my purse from where it had fallen. I pressed my back to the wall as my savior slowly turned towards me. His face was obscured by the darkness in the alley, but his voice was loud and clear.

"You should go now," he told me. "Do you have a car?"

"Yes," I said quietly. My voice sounded a little rough, even to me, with tears that I was obviously trying to hold back.

"Would you like me to walk you to it? Is it far?" he continued. I shook my head mechanically and stepped off of the wall and to the entrance of the alley. The tall, dark, mysterious man followed me into the dim glow of the streetlight.

He had to be Native American. He had dark, tan skin, black hair, and dark eyes. He was attractive, to say in the least, and when he opened his mouth to speak, straight, white teeth glittered in the low lighting. I was entranced.

"Where's your car?" he asked me softly. My eyes found his, and I heard his soft gasp. I felt what was going on. Old complicated magic sought me through his eyes, searing into mine. I could feel his soul attaching to mine, twisting our fates together. If what was happening was what I thought it was, that meant that the man before me was a shape shifter. My eyes widened quickly in realization, and I backed away from him.

"I-I have to go," I told him quickly as I hurried down the street towards my car.

"Wait!" he called, hurrying after me. Gone was the quiet, calm tone that had been meant to soothe a shaken woman. It was replaced by the higher, slightly anxious voice of a teenage boy. I unlocked my car, slipped in the door, threw my bag on the passenger seat, and started the engine. The man that had saved me was in a small group of other Native Americans, his pack, across the street. They were all watching me with looks of curiosity. I stared at them briefly before I pulled out into traffic. Wolves, it looked like-they had to be, especially with those tattoos on their arms.

I took deep, calming breaths as I made my way back to Forks. I went way over the speed limit, but there weren't any cop cars out at all. By the time I made it back to the house, Colton was asleep, and I went to take a shower immediately to rinse off the horrors of the night. I felt as if I could still feel the hands groping and grabbing at me, and I shivered as I wrapped myself in a towel and went to my bedroom to dress.

Once I had underwear on, I took a look at myself in the full-length mirror on the back of the bedroom door. My hair was swept off my neck in a wet towel on top of my head, and I had a full view of my body, touched with bruises. My shoulders were the worst, but I also had purple shadows on my hips and belly.

I dressed quickly in the oversize t-shirt I usually wore to bed and climbed under the cool covers. The familiar feel of my bed lulled me to sleep, and I felt so much better just being home.


	3. Twenty Questions

**This is where I put in major Seth/Summer interaction. One of my favorite pieces to write thus far :) Review if you'd like! It keeps me encouraged :)**

The next morning, I woke up squinting at the blinding light coming in through my window. The curtains were open, and bright sunshine filtered down, peeking between fluffy white clouds. I turned over to find Colton on the other side of the bed, watching a movie on our shared laptop as he ate a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal. He looked over when he felt me stir in the bed.

"Morning, Sum. Want some breakfast?" he asked cheerfully. I simply groaned and turned back over to bury my face under the covers. It was too early for cheerfulness. "School called, I told them you were sick and needed me to take care of you," Colt told me nonchalantly. I flipped over in my bed, wide-eyed, to stare at him in shock.

"It's a school day?" I asked in disbelief. My voice was a throaty, nasty mess full of sleep. Colt laughed at my shock.

"Course it is. It's Friday, Sum. Where have _you_ been?" he asked me laughingly. His eyebrows furrowed over his concerned hazel eyes. "Are you feeling okay? I just assumed it was a late night and you needed to sleep…did something happen last night?" he asked me, shutting the computer and pushing it to the side as he turned to face me.

"No, that's a silly question," I told him as I flipped back over to bury myself under the covers. Colton wasn't convinced, and I groaned loudly to normalize the situation. "Is there any coffee?" I asked him from under the covers. Even though it was muffled, he still understood my question perfectly. He knew me too well.

"Yeah, I'll go make you some," he laughed at me. I felt him leave my bed, and I went completely still beneath the covers. Colton was observant, but I couldn't believe I had let that much show in my face. All the hiding from the Cullens wasn't good for me; when I got home, I just let down my walls completely. If the habit kept up, I would be worrying Colton a lot more in the near future.

When Colton returned from the kitchen, he handed me a steaming cup of coffee in my favorite Cinderella mug, fixed just the way I liked it with cream and two sugars. I sat up on my bed and took the cup and sipped at it gingerly while Colton put his movie back on and took the headphones he had been using out of the jack so I could watch, too. For the rest of the morning and afternoon, we watched Spiderman and stupid YouTube videos and laughed and spent a long time together.

Afternoon arrived, and Colton left to go hang out with some friends at the movie theater in Port Angeles. I tidied up the house in my baggy pajama shirt and sighed as I picked up the trash that littered the kitchen. Colton had been the one to cook, and it showed drastically. Instead of the clean, orderly kitchen that was present when I cooked, there was a huge mess in a room that looked like it had survived a hurricane. I cleaned until the kitchen was normal again. Just as I was about to open a new book, there was a knock on my front door. I went to answer it in a hurry, hoping that I looked appropriately sick if it was anyone from school.

To my complete surprise, Bella was in front of me, holding a large bowl, with Alice at her side.

"Hey, Summer," she said brightly. She gestured to the bowl as she held it a little higher. "I heard you were sick, so I made you some soup," she told me.

"Oh, that's so thoughtful of you, Bella," I told her, at a loss. How quickly did news spread in Forks? I opened the door wider, allowing her and Alice to step inside.

"I helped, too," Alice told me with a chiming giggle as Bella made her way to the kitchen to set the bowl down. Alice hung back with me and smiled. She looked around the living room curiously. "Are your parents home?" she asked.

"No, not today," I answered breezily as I went to curl up under a blanket on the sofa. Lies, lies, lies-all to keep up the charade and keep Colton safe. I would be able to stop lying when I turned eighteen, I hoped. Alice followed me into the living room and sat in the chair and Bella joined me on the sofa.

"So, did you have a fever?" Bella asked me. I smiled.

"Not really. Just a little bit of a stomach bug. But I'm fine now. It was one of those short things. Colton just left actually-he's been taking care of me all day," I explained as I plucked a string on the throw pillow in my lap. Bella nodded.

"Well, you didn't miss much at school," she offered quietly with a shrug.

For the next few minutes, we talked about classes and how we weren't learning much. Alice, I knew, had no problems in her classes, and Bella simply described Trig as her downfall. I played up my loathing of science and just talked about how hard it was to understand the finer points of protons and neutrons while we sipped tea. Well, Bella and I sipped tea. Alice faked it.

After a while, Alice and Bella left with wishes that I felt better soon. Alice casually reminded me that her father was the town doctor, and that he didn't mind paying house calls. I told her it was really just a cold and completely unnecessary. More vampires trouping around my house? An adult to notice that I actually didn't live with my parents? No thank you.

I called in sick for work for a few nights, knowing that I didn't want to relive the other night over again. It was a week before I finally had enough courage to venture back, and the night passed by uneventfully in the club.

I was walking back to my car when I felt it-the prickly feeling on the back of my neck that told me immediately that I was being watched. I discreetly checked my surroundings, noting that everything looked extremely ordinary, before my gaze passed just over him.

The man from before-the Native American wolf-shifter-my very own savior. He was leaning against the wall in front of the alley I had been attacked in just a week before, and I could have sworn that he twitched when his eyes landed on me. His body was dressed in a black t-shirt, dark jeans that had seen better days, and ratty, hole-ridden tennis shoes. I assured myself that I had to be imagining things when he pushed off from the wall and loped towards me on the mostly empty sidewalk. My car was in a lot down the street, and I had nothing on but my normal work outfit (a tight black mini skirt, a fitted black corset, my pretty mask, a pair of very tall and slightly wobbly high heels, and my leather jacket to keep me warm).

"Hey!" he called as I spun around and tried to make a run for it. It was no such luck in my heels and when he was so obnoxiously tall with obnoxiously long legs. He caught up to me, grabbed my arm lightly with his scorching hot hand, and spun me around to face him. I immediately avoided his eyes and tugged my arm free from his strong grip. "Hey," he told me again with a bright, easy smile. His white teeth glowed in the darkness surrounding the two of us. Despite his huge frame and muscles, he seemed about my age, maybe a little older.

"Hello," I said quietly as I peered down at my shoes. The shifter laughed, it was a happy, bright sound.

"I don't know if you remember me…" he trailed off. I cut him off by glaring into his night-dark eyes harshly.

"Of course I do. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to leave now," I told him. I began to stalk off, but he caught my arm again in his scorching grip.

"Wait! Please don't leave!" he begged me. He ran a hand through his cropped black hair. "I-I know that you're probably very busy…"

"I am," I assured him simply.

"Please!" he begged. I hated the tone of his voice; it made me feel that I _had_ to turn back and give him the time of day. With a heavy sigh, I turned back to the shifter warily. He extended his hand to me quickly. "I'm Seth," he offered. I took it and shook it once, firmly, but Seth seemed as though he wanted to hold on a little longer. I tugged my hand free from his desperate hold.

"I'm in a hurry, it was nice to meet you," I told him dismissively. Seth grabbed my hand and pulled me back.

"Don't you think you could give me just a minute? I helped you out, after all," he told me quietly. I glared at him, my eyes narrowed into almost slits.

"I can take care of myself, thank you," I told him.

"But you don't have to," Seth told me quickly. I looked up at him, directly in the eyes, and felt something _zing_ through his hand and into mine. I pulled away slowly and adjusted my mask. Seth's easy smile made a reappearance, and I felt very protected in his presence. His smile made me feel very warm inside.

Seth's hands were slowly moving towards my face, and I pulled back in a hurry when I realized he was trying to take off my mask.

"What are you doing?" I demanded. Seth looked appropriately embarrassed.

"I, um, wanted to see…your face," he answered softly. I felt myself sigh in annoyance as I turned to walk towards my car. I took a deep breath and steeled myself as I turned back to Seth.

"Do…do you want a ride home or something?" I asked him, slightly irritated-but only slightly. I knew that I did owe him some form of kindness for helping me out with those men, and he looked to be truly alone. Seth beamed at me brightly and nodded quickly at my offer.

"Yeah…sure!" he agreed enthusiastically. He walked next to me as I made my way down the street and into the dark parking lot where my car was. The streetlamps that usually lit it up had died out and it was left in a creepy, shadowy darkness. I noticed a bunch of men lurking in a corner, but Seth effectively scared them off with a glare and they left the parking lot quickly. My eyebrow quirked in surprise, but I unlocked my car and gestured for Seth to climb into the passenger seat. I took a small bag out of the backseat and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and took off my mini skirt. I took off my jacket, flung it over the backseat, and pulled on a sweatshirt as I took off my corset underneath. After I slipped a bra on, I switched my heels for bunny slippers and slipped inside on the driver's side. When I shut my door, the car was dark except for the dash lighting up various buttons.

"You can put the radio on whatever," I informed Seth as I pulled out of the parking lot. With a huge sigh, I ripped my mask off, chucked it into the backseat, and put on a pair of glasses to see the road signs better.

"You wear glasses?" he asked me. He sounded genuinely surprised. I narrowed my eyes and threw him a glance.

"Yes," I answered him simply. I didn't get into the details of only needing them when I was driving, watching TV, or in a classroom. I pulled out onto the highway and began driving home. Seth seemed jovial as I pushed the speed limit but didn't go over. I sighed as I set my cruise control. "Where do you live?" I asked finally.

"The La Push Indian Reservation," Seth answered me. He sounded nervous, and I glanced at him before looking back at the road. After a long moment of silence, Seth finally asked what he wanted to talk about. "Would you…answer some questions? Twenty questions?" he asked.

My lips quirked despite myself, and I struggled to hold back a smile.

"Like a game?" I asked, amused. Seth nodded vigorously. "How about ten questions?" I suggested. Seth laughed.

"Whatever you want," he said easily. I felt the tension in the air relax as he did. "Okay, let's start out simple. What's your favorite color?" he asked me.

"Blue," I told him simply, without hesitation. I felt his eyes on me, prompting me for more information. "Like the ocean," I said quietly. Seth nodded.

"I like it. Mine's red," he offered. He sighed and drummed his fingers on his long legs. "Where do you live?" he asked.

"In a house," I told him sharply. He knew immediately that he had crossed a line, and backtracked immediately.

"Okay, okay, um…how old are you?" he asked lightly. I pursed my lips.

"More than ten and less than thirty," I offered. Seth guffawed.

"Do you always answer questions with really vague answers?" he asked. He sounded exasperated.

"Is that one of your questions?" I countered back.

"No!" Seth said emphatically. He paused, thoughtful. "Do you have any siblings?" he asked.

"Brother," I stated.

"Cool. I've got a sister. Her name's Leah," he told me. "Um…how did you end up working in that club?" he asked. I could tell that this was a question burning inside of him, but he was tentative to ask it, because he wasn't sure of my reaction. I couldn't blame him. If he were anyone else, I would have exploded appropriately. Instead, I sighed quietly.

"I needed a job," I stated quietly.

"Was there nothing else?" Seth asked, genuinely concerned. I blinked slowly, and shot him a glance. I looked back at the road quickly. I couldn't tell this boy I had just met that other jobs required your social security number and work permits. This job didn't ask me for anything. It paid well, and I knew how to do a good job. But he couldn't know that, because we would get into the deeper, finer details on why I needed a job that didn't ask for respectable things like socials and identification and why my parents didn't give me money and the entire depressing saga my life had come to.

"Next question," I stated firmly.

"Okay," he said. "Why did you offer me a ride tonight?" he asked. I stiffened a little in my seat, not prepared for that question. He was good at pushing just the right buttons.

"I…felt bad leaving you outside in the cold," I admitted grudgingly. I hesitated. "And I owe you, for the…other night."

Seth laughed, surprising me. "Does this count as the debt being repaid?"

"No, of course not," I told him quietly. I was shocked he would think along those lines. "I owe you more than a ride home."

"You don't owe me anything," he decided simply. I looked over, and immediately saw his heart in his eyes. I stiffened in my seat, and sat up straighter.

"You still have three questions left," I informed him primly.

"Hey, I thought it was four!" he argued indignantly. I smirked.

"You asked about the debt, and I answered. That counts," I explained. Seth pouted, but didn't argue with my logic. He sighed and drummed his fingers as he thought again.

"Okay, were you upset that I found you again tonight?" he asked. I pursed my lips, and changed lanes on the highway to take my time to formulate my response. By the time we were in the right hand lane, I had no choice but to answer the question. I sighed.

"At first, yes. Later, no," I said grudgingly. Seth grinned.

"Do you think I'm hot?" he asked.

I nearly slammed on the brakes in shock, but managed to keep control of my reflexes and keep the car steady. Seth chuckled at the shocked, aghast look on my face, but I quickly wiped that look off and offered my calm, serene mask.

"Yes," I answered simply. Seth whistled lightly, clearly pleased with my answer.

He waited a while for the last question I had allotted him, until he had pointed out his street and then house. I pulled up outside the cozy little blue house before letting the car idle as I turned to him. His dark eyes stared into mine in the dim, faintly green glow from the car's internal lights from the dashboard. He looked intense, and his voice reflected that, too.

"Will you see me again?" he hedged. "Willingly, I mean."

I hesitated. Here was a great-_fantastic_-guy, right at my age, who had _imprinted_ on me that had asked me out. I should have said yes. Instead, I found myself thinking of Colt and of all the other implications. I settled for giving him a mysterious smile.

"I don't know," I answered. He grinned at me.

"Thanks for the ride," he said. He opened his door and stepped out into the cold, frosty air. He shut the door, but then tapped the window before I pulled off. I rolled it down, curious.

"What's your name?" he asked me, his face eager.

I smirked, putting the car into drive.

"Sorry, Seth. You had your ten questions," I told him.


	4. Late Night Bite

**My second favorite piece to write, with Summer warming up to Seth a little more. Let me know how this goes...it's a lot of content in one chapter, probably more than I'll usually write per update.**

The next day at school, I was tired and irritable. Due to my rendezvous with Seth and our game of twenty questions, I felt drained mentally as well as physically, and I slipped up when Alice touched my arm.

She felt that same familiar shock she had when she had touched Colton, and I felt the shock of death on her and hum of energy, too. We pulled away from each other, and I tried to distract her with questions for my science class and upcoming test, but Alice was intrigued and touched my arm again. I was prepared that time, and was able to block the flow of our energies meeting through the skin.

After school, Bella invited me over to her house but I declined to pick up Colton from school. I took him to Port Angeles for a sibling bonding day at the movie theater. By the time we got home, it was late and we were both exhausted. I was thankful it was a Friday and we didn't have school.

The next morning, we slept in until the afternoon. Bella came by with Edward and asked to come in. I allowed them to, and they took seats in my small living room. I sat on the armchair and looked at them on the sofa expectantly. Bella looked supremely uncomfortable, and I knew that this conversation could only go one way. I was suddenly thankful that Colt was at Toby's house.

"What do you want?" I asked Edward. He looked at me for a long time. I could tell that he was instigating this, he knew what had gone through Alice's mind at lunch the previous day, and he was digging for more information. I glared. Vampires needed to mind their own damned business.

"You're _different_. Alice saw it," he stated simply, without preamble. I felt him brush against my mind, and shut him out abruptly. In contrast, I dove in to his, scouring for what he knew about me. I was relieved to discover most of it was vague suspicion, but Alice's vision of me helping them prompted him to come talk to me. Edward felt the intrusion but was powerless to stop me. He gasped, and Bella touched his hand quickly.

"What is it?" she asked urgently.

"She's reading my mind," Edward stated in awe.

"You're reading his mind?" she asked me, incredulous. I glanced at her, breaking my concentration on Edward. The trance was broken; I released him.

"I was," I admitted freely. Bella looked astonished.

"How?" she asked.

"None of your concern," I told her firmly, quirking an eyebrow. I stood to leave, but Edward grabbed my arm and eased me back into my chair.

"Maybe you can help us," he stated.

"No," I answered abruptly. He looked shocked, floored even.

"Why not?" he breathed. I looked at him, deep into his golden hunter's eyes. Those eyes that masked the monster within him-within all of them, simply lurking just beneath the surface. When I answered, there was a slight edge to my voice.

"Because I don't help vampires," I told him simply.

That certainly got their attention.

"You can't tell anyone," Bella told me quickly, worried. I rolled my eyes at her dramatics.

"I wouldn't," I said simply. I glared at Edward. "And not because of you. Don't think I'm doing you any favors, because I'm not."

"How do you know?" he asked. I rolled my eyes and stood to go into the kitchen to make tea.

"You're easy to spot," I said as they walked into the kitchen, following me. I gestured to the kitchen table. They sat, and I grabbed two mugs from the cabinet and put tea bags in them. I poured the hot water over them and then handed one to Bella. I fixed my own and offered her the sugar.

I sat across from them at the four-chair kitchen table.

"We're being…watched," Edward said, with difficulty. I arched an eyebrow but didn't question him. He continued. "Someone we don't know…one of _us_-our kind, that is-entered Bella's house. They left her father alive. And then we have-," I cut Edward off.

"The redhead. Victoria," I said. They looked surprised, and I rolled my eyes. "I'm not helping you. I don't care how hopeless you think all this is."

"Why not?" Bella asked; her voice was full of sadness. I sighed heavily and took the tea bag from my cup and set it on a small plate.

"I can't draw attention to myself or Colt," I told her simply. I didn't offer any other explanation, and Edward and Bella both looked frustrated.

"Are your…parents…like you?" Edward asked. I regarded him with a long, intense look. He seemed uncomfortable under my scrutiny, as he should be.

"They were," I said. Bella was about to ask another question, no doubt concerning my parents and their whereabouts, but I silenced her. "No. That's enough. You know more than you should already. You both need to leave, now."

They both got to their feet awkwardly and walked back to the front door. They went outside, and I shut the front door behind them firmly. I backed against it afterwards, and sank to the floor. I couldn't believe that they knew that much already, so quickly. Colt and I would probably have to leave. If we didn't leave, I would have to avoid them like the plague. I couldn't be roped into helping vampires-not again.

When Colt got back home, I made dinner and acted like nothing had happened. We spent the rest of the evening just hanging out together.

* * *

I had to work the next day, and headed out a little early to avoid Seth as best as I could.

After work, I felt the distinct sensation of being followed. I nearly groaned aloud: not again. I _had_ to start parking closer to the club I worked at. Otherwise, I would be dead before the next Tuesday.

To my somewhat relief, when I rounded the next corner, I noticed it was only Seth. He waved to me cheerfully and hurried to catch up to me, where I was waiting on the street corner. I glared at him as he walked up, and he instantly looked concerned.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"You scared me half to death!" I berated him as we started walking towards my car. My eyes narrowed. "Why are you following me again? Do you come here every day of the week and hope I'm around?"

"Well…" Seth hesitated. My eyes widened as I gazed up at him. He sighed. "Pretty much. I don't know your name, I don't know your phone number, and I have no clue where you live. So, yeah. I go to the place where I know you have to show up eventually."

"You could be arrested for harassment," I told him, teasing. His eyes widened in alarm until he caught the barest of a smile on my lips. His face lit up.

"You should smile more," he told me in a low, shy voice. I turned my face and tried to hide my grin. Even when I should be angry at him-after following me to a dark street corner in the middle of the night-he still had the ability to make me smile. We reached my car, and I pulled my bag out of the backseat to change into my sweats, the same as the last time I had given him a ride. Seth was hesitant again; I could tell he wanted to ask me something. "Hey-would you…like to…maybe get something to eat?" he asked me. He sounded braced for a negative answer. My chest ached as I watched his nervous face; I hadn't realized I had been _that_ awful to him.

"Okay," I said. I got in the driver's seat and waited for a really shocked Seth to find his way into the passenger seat. I pulled out of the parking lot and waited for Seth to give me directions. There weren't many places you could still go and get food at one o'clock in the morning, but Seth led me to a little twenty-four hour diner that we could sit and talk and eat at.

After we sat down and gave the waitress our orders, Seth and I looked at each other from across the table. He looked genuinely shocked.

"Do I have something on my face?" I asked after a minute, self-consciously patting my cheeks and nose.

"No-no!" he said quickly. "You-I've just never seen you full-on in the light before. You're…really beautiful," he told me earnestly. I felt myself blush immediately at his words.

"Thanks," I said. I had to admit, in the full light, he was even more gorgeous than I had initially thought.

"Will you tell me your name now?" he asked quietly. I looked at him from across the table and sighed quietly. Now that he knew my face, it really didn't matter if he knew my name. And secretly, I knew that I was warming to him despite my best efforts-he was persistent, but instead of it being annoying like it should have been, I only found it sweet and a little endearing.

"Summer," I said quietly. Seth smiled.

"That's beautiful," he said softly. I grinned a tiny bit in response.

"Thanks," I said softly. I took a deep breath, sat up straight, and spoke louder. The least I could do was make conversation, as Seth didn't seem to have much more to say after learning my name. "So, are you in school on the reservation?" I asked lightly. Seth blushed.

"Yeah, but I want to drop out. I'm no good at school," he said quietly. "My mom won't let me though; she thinks I need a good education." I felt my lips purse.

"I could help you," I offered. Seth looked incredulous, and I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Don't look so surprised. I only kept pushing you away because I didn't know if I could trust you."

"You trust me now?" he asked hopefully.

I stared at him for a long time. Seth was an easy-going, carefree, very trusting and open person. He seemed to possess a genuine, kind heart. Seth was good at keeping secrets, and he was a protector of his tribe. I knew that I could trust him, and after a week of him following me around, I actually wanted to.

"Yes," I said firmly. Seth looked satisfied with my answer. Our waitress stopped by to give us our food and refill our drinks. I had coffee; Seth had lemonade.

"Can I trust you?" he asked over our spread of burgers and French fries. "I have a big, big secret. Something that doesn't just involve me. I want to tell you-badly."

"Is this about your protecting your tribe and being in a pack of shape shifting-wolves?" I asked delicately as I sipped my coffee and then water. I took a fry as I watched him attempt to formulate a response. I pursed my lips when he still hadn't said anything after two minutes. "I have secrets of my own. It's nothing important that you need to know right now, but I'll tell you eventually. Let's just say I knew the second I saw you and that group of people on the night you saved me."

"The pack," he realized quietly. I nodded.

"I haven't told anyone. If you were wondering," I said quietly. He nodded, lost in thought, and I nudged his leg with my foot under the table. "Are you okay?" I asked quietly. He nodded quickly, shook his head, and smiled at me.

"Sure, sure," he said with a boyish grin. "I'm fine."

We talked for a while longer about nothing in particular, and I finally asked him if he wanted to come over to my house the next day. I knew that Colton would be out, and told Seth he could meet my brother in the evening if he wanted to. Seth jumped at the chance, and I smiled at him as he picked up the check and we headed out to the car. We got in and I drove out to his house again. When I dropped him off, before he got out of the car, I took his hand and squeezed it for a second. It wasn't anything big, but Seth had a stupid smile on his face when he got out of the car and went into his house. I drove back to Forks with a heavy sigh and turned in for the night.


	5. Patrolling with Paul

**This chapter is told in Seth's POV. I'm obviously not a guy, so writing this was kind of tricky, but I think I did okay. Let me know if Paul is in-character enough. Happy New Year!**

Leah and Jared were waiting for me on the edge of the forest when Summer pulled away. I waited on the porch until she turned the street corner before I walked over to the tree line and began to strip.

"You were supposed to be here an hour ago," Leah reminded me sourly. She grabbed my shirt from me and I handed her my shoes and socks.

"Give him a break, Leah. Paul was there to help out," Jared rolled his eyes.

"Summer took me to the diner in Port Angeles to eat. We were talking," I explained as I pulled off my jeans and handed them over to Leah. She rolled her eyes at me and stalked off to the house.

"I'll put your shorts on the back porch," she called as she disappeared inside the back door. Jared looked at me with a small smile.

"Don't worry about it. I'm glad she's actually talking to you now," Jared told me. I couldn't help the stupid smile that stretched across my face. I took off my boxers and stooped down to tie them to my ankle. "Anyway, I'm going to see Kim. Paul's running the northern border. Howl if you find anything."

"Will do," I told him cheerfully as I phased. Jared ran off in the opposite direction through the trees to head to Kim's while I began my patrol of the southern border. Paul's disjointed thoughts bombarded me as he ran the border.

_You're late, kid._

_I was with Summer._ Even my thoughts sounded embarrassed. I knew that if I were human at the moment, I would be blushing.

_How'd that go? She still pretending you don't exist?_

I felt funny talking to Paul of all people about my imprint, but my happiness couldn't contain my thoughts as I ran through the night.

_I saw her in the light today,_ I remembered, thinking of her in the diner. _She's so pretty._

Summer had long, dark brown hair that looked black except for the little red hints in the bright light of the diner. Her small, oval face was smooth and a little tan, with big, pale green eyes. She had full, pink lips, and a set of straight, white teeth.

_Yeah, she's hot._ Paul decided as I thought of Summer. _Is she any nicer?_

_I think she's hiding something. And she's scared to trust me._ I recalled her face as she talked about my being a wolf. Paul was shocked.

_Woah, she knows about us already?_

_She knows were shifters and I think she kind of gets the imprinting thing, but she definitely doesn't know the legends. She seemed…_ My thoughts trailed off, thinking of Summer's odd behavior when discussing things that she knew without me telling her.

_Guarded? Nervous? _Paul suggested as he watched the scene over with me.

_Maybe. I don't know, but she invited me over tomorrow!_

_That's great, kid._

_I get to meet her brother, too!_

_What about her parents? She want you to meet him first so they don't immediately freak out or something?_

_I don't know. She hasn't said anything about her parents._ I wondered what kind of parents would let Summer work where she had a job and immediately decided that they probably weren't around much. Paul agreed with me wholeheartedly.

_You should ask her to find something else. I've heard stories about that place. You've already had to defend her once…_

_I don't think she'd do it. She's stubborn and she seems to think that club is her only option as far as jobs go._

_Sam can pull some strings. We can get her something on the reservation-maybe at the general store._

I tried to hold in my surprise at Paul's ideas and offers concerning Summer's job. I didn't think he had the heart to care about her whereabouts.

_Hey, I have a heart!_ He stated defensively. _And she's pack now, Seth. I'll protect her like I would protect Emily or Kim or little Claire. She means something to all of us-not just you._

Paul's admission was something I knew to be true, but I had never thought about Summer like that before. Everyone in the pack protected the imprints fiercely-it was just done, because of the attachments we formed with them. But Summer hadn't exactly been welcomed into the inner circle yet, and I hadn't expected anyone to really care about her until they met her. Paul's statement made me feel a lot better about not spending every waking hour with her, though.

_And if you ever tell anyone what I just said, I'll deny it._ Paul's voice was his own, ass voice again. _I have a reputation to uphold, you know._

The rest of our patrol was quiet, and Sam took over with Jacob and Embry when Paul and I phased back. I went to sleep that night thinking about all that Paul had said, and dreamed about going over to Summer's the next day. If a vampire didn't kill me in the night, my anticipation surely would.


	6. Seth's Visit

The next morning, I drove Colt over to Toby's house and then returned. I tidied up and showered before Seth came over. When he arrived, he walked in, a little surprised, and sat down on the sofa while I got him something to drink. We settled together on the sofa and I put on an old movie that I liked. Seth and I sat side-by-side quietly through half of the movie before he tentatively wrapped an arm around me.

I surprised Seth when I snuggled under his arm and into his side. His arm tightened around me, and I smirked despite myself as the movie played on. By the end of the movie, Seth's arm was wound around my waist, and I was leaning against his side. I got up to change the disc to another movie and replenish the popcorn supply. When I returned, I went back under Seth's arm. The movie was a romantic drama, and at the halfway point, I looked up at Seth, bit my lip, and looked at his lips. He seemed to understand the gesture, and leaned in to kiss me.

I lost track of time after that. The movie ended, and I was beneath Seth on the sofa, still kissing him. The DVD menu repeated, annoying, in the background, but we ignored it. When I made a noise of complaint, Seth agilely clicked a button on the remote and turned everything off.

When we heard the front door open, Seth and I jumped apart just as Colton walked in.

"Hey, Sum, what's for-," Colton stopped and stared at Seth. "Who is this?" he asked. I could see the protective side of him coming out quickly, and smiled at Colton reassuringly. His face showed me that he wasn't convinced.

"This is Seth," I stated simply, not wanting to mention where and how and why I had met him. "He's a good friend. He came over to watch movies today," I explained.

Colton looked at the TV, which was off, the empty popcorn bowl, the rumpled couch, and my messy hair and nodded dramatically.

"Riiight," he stated sarcastically. I gave him a pointed look, warning him against being rude. He rolled his eyes, leaned forward, and shook Seth's hand. "Nice to meet you, Seth. I'm Summer's brother Colton."

"Nice to meet you, Colton," Seth said with a smile. He had a distinct blush in his cheeks, and I smirked but covered it with my hand.

"Are you staying for dinner?" Colton asked Seth. Seth looked at me and I nodded. Seth looked back at Colton with a tentative, apologetic grin.

"I guess I am," he said. Colton nodded and looked at me. I sighed, stood, and went to the kitchen to put the chicken parmesan in the oven. While I worked on dinner in the kitchen, I heard Colton mention sports and turn the TV on. He and Seth debated NFL football teams while I worked in the kitchen. When I served dinner, they walked in and sat at the table. We joined hands and Colton said the blessing.

"Lord, we thank you for this wonderful food and for letting us enjoy it with our new friend Seth," Colton said quietly. I smirked as Seth blushed again.

"Amen," Seth and I chorused with Colt.

We dug in, and Colton and Seth assured me it was delicious and thanked me for cooking.

"So, are your parents going to be home soon?" Seth asked. "I don't want to intrude," he explained.

Colton looked at me, and we exchanged a glance. We both debated with our eyes, contemplating the consequences of telling Seth. Colton finally looked away, giving in as he signaled me to speak. Seth caught the silent exchange and I sighed as I sat up straighter in my seat and looked into Seth's eyes directly.

"Our parents are dead. Bread?" I asked as I offered him the bread bowl. The three small loaves were warm and soft, but Seth was too shocked to say anything. I replaced the bread bowl on the table and looked at Colton nervously. He rolled his eyes as he saved my sorry butt.

"What she meant to explain to you was that our parents are dead to us. We're emancipated-technically," Colt explained to Seth. He hesitated. "Dad died in Iraq. We don't know where Mom is right now. We don't talk about them." Colton's voice offered no room for interjections, questions, or comments. Seth was silent at the new piece of information.

And just like that, dinner got extremely awkward. Seth and Colton returned to a safe topic: sports, while I sat and picked at my food silently, brooding. I had meant to explain the situation to Seth eventually, gracefully, but he seemed to know just when to ask me questions to catch me unawares and without an adequate response. I felt like an idiot. When we had all finished eating, Colton cleared the table and I fixed us all bowls of ice cream.

The three of us sat in silence in the living room eating ice cream as we stared at some weird television show on the anatomy of centipedes. As soon as the last of his ice cream was gone, Colton said he had homework, which I knew was a lie, and left the room quickly. I cleaned the dishes, and Seth offered to help, but I told him to just sit at the table. I didn't want him to help me clean; I wanted to do it myself. After the kitchen was spotless, Seth and I went back to the living room and sat on the sofa together to watch bad TV shows. Even though we were watching a comedy, neither of us was laughing. Finally, I turned and looked up at Seth.

"I'm sorry. But we don't like talking about it," I explained quietly. I hesitated. "It brings up…really bad memories for Colton and me, and I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings by not telling you."

"That's okay," he said, pulling me under his arm. I looked up at his face; I could tell something was still bothering him. He looked down at me, noticing that I was waiting for him to explain. "My dad died a few months ago. He had a heart attack," Seth told me.

Awkward-majorly awkward.

"Well," I said softly. Seth just shook his head.

"You don't have to tell me anything. I've been told everything that you've been told, I'm sure. Let's just not talk about it." Seth's face darkened as he stared holes into my television, and I sat beside him silently, with my knees pulled up to my chest. My bare feet were cold in the drafty living room but I didn't dare move to grab the blanket behind Seth's shoulders. After a good ten minutes of him staring blankly at some blonde woman on ABC Family, he pulled me under his arm and kissed the top of my head.

As we continued watching the comedy shows, Seth brightened a little. Colton walked in after a while, texting madly on his phone. He looked up at the two of us, bit back a grin, and looked back down at his phone.

"Toby's mom is picking me up. I'm spending the night at his house-if that's okay?" he said, directing the question at me. I nodded and smiled. My stomach did a nervous flip-flop as he asked. Seth and I would have the house to ourselves. For the whole night. Just the two of us. Alone.

"Yeah," I agreed automatically to Colton's asking permission. I hardly ever denied him, if ever.

"We're going to a movie in Port Angeles tomorrow. Can I have some money?" he asked.

"Yeah," I agreed again. I moved to get up and go to my wallet from my purse in my bedroom, but Colton only chucked it at me with a grin.

"Here," he said as it landed in my lap. "You look comfortable," he said of me being practically in Seth's lap. He was smiling though, so I knew he meant it in a good way. I rolled my eyes down as I went through my wallet and plucked a twenty to hand to Colton. He leaned over and looped his arm around my head and pulled it to his chest in an awkward sort of hug before shaking Seth's hand and hurrying out the door to the sound of a honking horn. I smoothed my messed hair down with a smile.

"Well," I said as I looked over at Seth. "Do you need to be anywhere tonight?" I asked him. I did my best to make my voice sound sultry and not as nervous as my stomach was. Seth thought for a second and shook his head.

"Nope," he admitted. I smiled, and leaned in resume our earlier activities. Seth responded eagerly.

When I woke up the next morning, I already had a smile on my face. Seth's arms were wrapped around me, and his strong torso was pressed against my back, giving off an immense amount of heat that had even my cold feet pleasantly warm. Seth's arms constricted in his sleep, and he pulled me closer to him unconsciously. There was a distant howling, and I felt Seth's body tense as he woke up suddenly. He sat up abruptly in the bed.

"What time is it?" he asked urgently. I looked over at my alarm clock to the glowing red numbers and turned over to look at him.

"It's not even seven o'clock," I told him quietly. He looked down at me and smiled. I sat up gingerly and leaned over to kiss him softly on the lips. Another howl went through the morning air, still distant, but definitely calling. Seth groaned and pulled away from the kiss. "You have to go," I stated intuitively, sighing as I sunk back beneath the covers.

"Yeah," Seth whispered. I pouted, and he groaned. "I'm sorry, Summer."

"That's okay," I told him softly, smiling lightly. I could tell that he felt bad already about leaving me.

"I'll see if I can come back later," he told me as he kissed my forehead and then rolled over to get out of the bed. He pulled his shorts on and then pulled on a t-shirt quickly. I smiled seductively when he looked back over at me.

"Promise?" I asked him petulantly. He walked over to me, cupped my face in his hands, and kissed me on the lips very softly and slowly.

"Promise," he whispered against my lips. One last, haunting howl could be heard from outside, and it was definitely closer. Seth groaned dramatically and ran out of my room. I heard the front door shut behind him and I sighed as I leaned back into my pillows.


	7. Together

**This is mostly relationship fluff between Seth and Summer. Next chapter may be Seth's POV again...any takers?**

I spent the morning cleaning up the house and doing chores. Colton didn't return until late afternoon, and made no mention of Seth until after dinner.

"So, did you and your _boyfriend_ have fun last night?" he asked me with a snide smirk as a commercial interrupted the program we were watching. I rolled my eyes and threw a pillow at Colt's face. It got him right in the nose, and I smirked in triumph. "Ooo, you're _blushing_, Summer! You and Seth _did_ have fun last night. _Lots_ of it, because you're blushing harder!"

I turned away until Colton was finished making fun of me. He sighed, but I could hear the amusement in his voice. "I don't mind if he spends the night, you know, not as long as you're happy. I want you to be happy, Summer," Colton told me softly. I looked over at him and smiled, then leaned over to ruffle his hair. "No! Not the hair, Sum, not the hair!" he cried dramatically, pushing himself backwards away from my hand. He landed on the floor between the sofa and the coffee table and I burst into fits of giggles.

Late that evening, Seth returned. I heated up a plate of dinner for him and sat with him while he ate. He explained that they had been chasing the redheaded vampire all day, but she had evaded them again. After he finished eating, I playfully snuck him back to my room while Colton played his video games in the living room. I knew Colton would be doing that for hours.

Seth and I rolled around between my sheets for a while. When we finally rested, he kissed my forehead lightly. I heard Colton get up from the living room, turn off the TV and games, and go to his room. When his door shut, I smiled at Seth.

"Are you going to stay?" I whispered. Seth looked hesitant as he traced aimless patterns across the pale skin of my right thigh. His eyes focused on my leg completely.

"Um, well…I feel…weird. About what we just did-your brother's here," he stated uncomfortably. "And he's young…and impressionable…" I shook my head, brought his chin up so that he was facing me, and kissed him softly.

"It's okay," I assured him. "Do you want to stay?" I asked him. Seth hesitated-again-before nodding. "Then stay," I told him simply, running my fingers down his chest. He nodded and smiled at me, and I smiled in return. "Colton thinks you're great," I laughed.

"Really?" Seth sounded surprised. I nodded.

"Yeah, he seems to really like you…"

"Why does it sound like you think that's a bad thing?" Seth asked with a devious grin. I rolled my eyes.

"It's not a bad thing. Colt's just…never really liked other people that I've introduced him to before…"

"Like who? Your brother is so easy going," Seth said. I could see the curiosity in his eyes though, and I shrugged it off nonchalantly.

"Just…people." Seth sensed my discomfort and dropped the subject immediately and resumed tracing patterns across my thigh.

"You know…" Seth hesitated. I rolled my eyes.

"I'll never know if you don't tell me," I reminded him gently. He laughed lightly as he glanced up at my eyes briefly before returning his eyes to where his fingers were on my leg. As I waited for him to speak up, his fingers traveled over my hip and up on my stomach. Seth's grin spread slowly across his face; my answering smile was slightly smaller than his own.

"You should meet my friends. You know, the pack," he decided. "And my mom."

"You want me to meet your family?" I asked, surprised. "_Why_?"

I didn't mean to sound so surprised, but I was genuinely shocked. I didn't know how these people would feel about my relationship with their son/brother/friend/whathaveyou.

"Well, you're…I mean we…" Seth trailed off, unsure how to define our slightly unorthodox relationship. I mentally tallied that we had known each other for exactly fourteen days. That was precisely two weeks. We had met in a dark alley when he saved me from sexual assault, gone on two awkward not-date-dates, had dinner with my brother and watched a few movies at my house, and had sex three or four times. Plus, we had some weird, wolf-shape-shifter imprint mumbo-jumbo going on as well. I couldn't even really tell if we were an item, technically.

"We're together," I supplied. My leg slid closer to his beneath the sheets, and Seth's blush grew as I brushed my fingertips across his chest. My hand stopped on his bicep, and his fingers trailed over my stomach to dig into my hip. I moved my hand slowly up his arm to carefully cup his cheek and place a chaste kiss on his lips. Seth's mouth curled upwards in response.

"Should we…define this?" Seth asked as he pulled away to press a kiss on my clavicle. I laughed; he was tickling me unintentionally.

"I don't care what we are," I told him honestly as I pulled him closer. His answering smile was bright.

"Me neither," he agreed promptly. His hands cupped my face delicately as he hovered over me in the bed. "But I would like you to meet them. I've met Colton, you see, and he's infinitely more terrifying."

"I don't know…" I teased. "A pack of wolves…a momma wolf…you might have to protect me."

"I won't let them eat you…or bite," Seth grinned as he leaned forward to place little kisses across my cheeks. "Please?" he whispered in my ear.

"Oh, fine," I agreed, pulling his mouth across mine.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up early to get ready for school while Seth slept in my bed, oblivious. When I was fully dressed and about to walk out the door, I kissed him softly on the lips. I hated to wake him up: he was so cute snuggled under my covers, clutching the sheets. He looked adorable and peaceful in his sleep, but I knew that he had things to do, and needed to get up.

"Seth?" I asked him softly. He cracked his eyes open slowly, and sat up. I handed him a plate of breakfast and kissed his cheek quickly. "Hey, I've got to get to school. There's a key on the nail in the kitchen next to the phone. Lock up for me, okay? You can come over later if you want," I said.

"What do I do with the key?" he asked around a mouthful of toast.

"Keep it," I said with a delicate smirk. I grabbed my bookbag and left him speechless in my bed. Colt sighed in the car when I got in and rolled his eyes at me.

"Is he going to be staying over _every_ night?" he asked me sarcastically. I smiled and swiped my hand through my brother's hair before he could slap my hand away. His bright eyes were dancing with mirth, amused at my new friendship with Seth.

"No," I told him with an eye roll of my own. "Just _most_ nights," I amended with a sweet grin. Colt pretended to gag dramatically. After I dropped him off at his school, I headed to Forks High quickly, and got there just before the first bell rang for class.

At lunch, Bella waved me over to her table with Alice and Edward, and I tentatively walked over. Alice and Edward stiffened when I did, and I sat down with a frown etched across my face.

"What?" I asked sharply. Edward's answer was blunt, though I could tell by his face he was attempting to be polite, but just couldn't find a nice way to put his words.

"You smell like wet dog," he told me. I stiffened. Of course the wolves smelled bad to the Cullens, and I had been with Seth all weekend…

"Sorry," I offered with a delicate, one-armed shrug.

"Have you been around the wolves?" Alice whispered sharply. I gazed at her silently for a long time.

"Just one," I told her simply, ending that thread of conversation.

The rest of lunch was awkward, and I was relieved to spend the remainder of my endless day in relative peace. When I got home that afternoon with Colt, Seth was in my room, reading a book. His huge, muscled frame was sprawled across the sparse floor of my room, half-leaning against the side of my bed, his head propped up on a fluffy throw pillow. He looked up as I walked in and stood from his sprawl on the floor. I noticed immediately that he had made my bed. It was messy, but the gesture was cute and sweet. I smiled and kissed him happily on the lips.

"Thanks for making my bed," I whispered. I smiled seductively. "Want to help me mess it up?"

"I wish," he moaned, throwing his head back in frustration. "But I have a book report due tomorrow, and I was hoping you could help me."

"Sure. What's it on?" I asked as I set down my school books at my desk.

"Wuthering Heights," he said with a distinct pout. I looked over at him and grinned.

"Oh, that one's easy," I teased lightly. Seth rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, maybe for you, smarty pants," he said playfully with a smack to my butt. I gasped unintentionally and Seth laughed while I patted the spot on the bed next to me. Seth sat and I snatched the book from his hands with a teasing smile. He grabbed a notebook and pen and waited for me to help.

We spent an hour and a half going over the book before I had to get ready for work. Seth watched me dress and then layer sweats over the skimpy outfit before sighing pointedly. I looked over and grinned at him before leaning over to kiss him. He accepted the kiss and grabbed my face to deepen it before I sighed and grabbed my bag.

"Can I come?" he asked. His eyes were following me as I moved towards my bedroom door. I turned around slowly and quirked an eyebrow in surprise. "I'll go to the ice cream place down the street and wait until one," he offered. He seemed a little jumpy, but I shrugged it off and nodded my agreement to his proposal.

"Okay," I said simply. I glanced in Colton's bedroom door and told him I was leaving. He waved me on and called out an 'I love you' as I made my way to the front door. I responded likewise and locked the door behind Seth. We got into my car and drove to Port Angeles quickly.

The night seemed to crawl by since I knew that I had Seth waiting for me. When my shift finally ended, I went to the ice cream parlor to find Seth. He was sitting in a small booth in a corner, reading the same book from earlier in the afternoon. He smiled as I walked up to him in my sweats. He made me feel like the most beautiful girl in the whole world, even in the simplest and drabbest outfit with limp hair and awful makeup. We walked out to the car silently and I wiped my makeup off with a towelette in the car. I popped my glasses on and headed to his house so I could drop him off. I pulled up right outside and put the car in park. Seth leaned over and kissed me gently on the lips.

"I was thinking tomorrow," he said softly when he pulled away, leaving me gasping for breath.

"Tomorrow for what?" I asked, my head woozy from our kiss.

"For you to meet my family," he reminded me gently.

"Oh," I murmured, surprised. "Well, I have to work again tomorrow…"

"How about on Friday?" Seth suggested. I made another face. He groaned lightly and I slapped his arm playfully.

"I'm free Sunday," I said. Seth grinned.

"Perfect. You bringing the little bro?" he asked. I hesitated.

"Should I?" I asked tentatively. Seth rolled his eyes.

"Well, yeah. Don't leave the kid home alone." Seth waited for a minute, watching my face. "Does he…know? About me, I mean?"

"Yeah, of course," I said, waving off the concern. Seth grinned.

"Good. So just bring him. I'll work out the details with you tomorrow. I'll be at your house after school."

"Okay. I can't wait to see you," I murmured softly. Seth laughed.

"You're looking at me right now."

"Yes, but I won't be in about two minutes."

"I hope you survive."

"Me too."

Seth kissed me one last time before getting out of the car and jogging up to his front porch. I thought I saw a curtain move in one of the windows, but I shook my head, waved at Seth, and pulled away to go home.


	8. Bonfire Introductions

**This chapter is in Seth's POV. Feedback welcome :)**

Summer's car pulled into the parking lot at First Beach just as the sun was setting. I was sitting on a driftwood log around the bonfire between Jacob and Paul when Paul nudged me and laughed when I choked on my hotdog. Summer and Colton had just stepped out of the car, and I gave my food to Paul, brushed my hands off, and jogged over to them in the parking lot.

She was obviously trying to make a good impression, and was wearing black tights, a black dress, and a black leather jacket. Her shoes were her black kicks, and she had a pair of sunglasses perched on her nose to protect her eyes from the fierce glare of the sun. She looked beautiful, as always, and had coordinated her brother, who wore jeans and a black t-shirt. Colton obviously didn't care what my family thought of him, which amused me.

Summer's face was obviously nervous as she stared down at the bonfire. She flipped her sunglasses on the top of her head and smiled hesitantly at me as she returned my quick kiss.

"What if they don't like me?" she whispered. She peeked over my shoulder at the bonfire again. Colton looked out at the ocean, pretending not to hear his sister's whispers. I followed her eyes to where she was staring at Paul, Jacob, Jared, and Embry. They watched back for a moment before averting their gazes. Summer's eyes returned to me.

"Well, you brought dessert," I said, gesturing to the Tupperware container in her hands. "So Paul will definitely like you. The others, well…" I trailed off and Summer's pale green eyes widened. "I'm kidding!" I assured her softly. She glared at me.

"That wasn't funny," she stated stiffly. "Okay, let's make sure I've got this all straight. Your mom's name is Sue. Your sister is Leah. Your cousin is Emily; she's with Sam-the alpha. Paul likes dessert and the others may bite, we're not clear on that yet…"

"That's pretty much it," I laughed. I heard Paul and Jacob chuckle in the distance. Though they meant to act like they weren't listening, the pack was pretty much paying attention to every word coming out of Summer's mouth. And she knew immediately, of course.

"And they can hear me from over here. _Super_," she said sarcastically with an eye roll.

"Come on," I laughed. I clapped Colton on the back and he grinned at me.

"Seth!" he exclaimed. "Good to see you, man!" I grinned at Colton, who was clearly pretending as though we hadn't been standing next to each other for nearly three minutes now.

"Come on, there's still some hot dogs left," I told him, taking Summer's free hand as she balanced her container in the other.

Everyone kept their distance and pretended that they weren't watching Summer as I led her over to Emily and Kim first.

"I brought brownies," Summer explained as she held out the container to Emily. Emily smiled warmly and took it from her.

"That's so thoughtful. The boys will gobble these right up," Emily told Summer with a smile as she took the lid off and passed the container over to Kim. Kim smiled shyly at Summer. "I'm Emily."

"Summer." The two girls shook hands and Summer smiled hesitantly. "What a pretty ring."

"Thanks," Emily said, smiling fondly down at her engagement ring. "We're planning a winter wedding for next year."

"I'm Kim," Kim told Summer softly. They shook hands and Summer smiled brightly.

"Your hair is so gorgeous," Summer told her, fingering the long, shiny locks. "I wish mine would grow out."

Kim blushed fiercely and murmured a thank-you. She scurried off to Jared across the bonfire quickly, leaving me with Summer, Emily, and Colton.

"Oh, this is my booger of a brother," Summer told Emily, gesturing to Colton. She wrinkled her nose fondly at him. "Colton."

"What she meant to say was that I'm the best brother to ever walk the planet," Colton amended as he shook Emily's hand.

"Well, help yourself," Emily laughed, gesturing to the spread of food. She and my mom had cooked enough to feed an army, which was a good thing with Paul around.

"Thanks!" he told Emily brightly as he grabbed a plate and began loading it.

"You hungry?" I asked Summer. She shook her head.

"Maybe later," she said softly. I tucked her closer under my arm and felt her back stiffen as my mom wheeled Billy Black over.

"Hello, Summer," Billy said with a careful smile. He shook her shaking hand. "I'm Billy, Jacob's father."

"Hi," Summer squeaked out. Billy gestured behind him to my mom. She watched Summer silently, and finally smiled. I was pretty sure Summer was about to pass out from stress. "You must be Seth's mom. It's really nice to meet you, Mrs. Clearwater," Summer said as she reached over to shake my mom's hand.

My mom surprised all of us when she took Summer's hand only to pull her away from me and in for a hug.

"I'm very glad to meet you, Summer. You're all Seth talks about!" my mom gushed. I felt my eyes widen as she released Summer to hold her at arm's length. "And look at you-you're gorgeous! Seth didn't exaggerate at all!"

"Mom," I said, embarrassed, as I tugged Summer back to my side. Summer's eyes were wide with surprise, but she was smiling, so I assumed she was okay. I heard her heartbeat fluttering in her chest, at nearly three times her normal pace. My mom smiled at me.

"Help yourself to everything Summer. Don't be a stranger!" she called as she and Billy snagged some brownies before heading back to their seats.

"I like her," Summer whispered to me as I led her over to Old Quil and Sam. Old Quil smiled vacantly at her and Sam nodded to her with a serious expression.

"I'm Sam," he told her, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you," Summer said with a sweet smile. Her hand had stopped shaking and I noticed that her heart had slowed down dramatically. Her confidence grew right in front of my eyes, and she grasped my hand tightly as I walked her over to the guys.

The buffoons crowded around her immediately, examining her like a science experiment.

"Hey, Seth," Paul said with a grin. He was gazing at Summer. "She's even prettier in person." I growled lowly and he laughed. Summer slapped my chest lightly.

"Don't growl at him." Summer turned back to Paul with a dazzling smile. "Seeing as Seth has decided to be animalistic at the moment, I'll introduce myself. I'm Summer."

"Paul," he told her with a laugh. He nodded to the others. "That's Jared, Jacob, Embry, Collin, Brady, Quil, and Quil's imprint Claire."

Quil put down a squirming Claire and she ran up to Summer's feet.

"You pretty! You hold me?" she said brightly. Summer laughed as Quil apologized profusely and scooped Claire up, pulling away from me in the process.

"Well aren't you cute as a button!" she decided. Claire giggled as Summer spoke to her for a moment before laughing and hugging Summer around the neck. Summer set her down and Claire ran off with a squeal, Quil chasing after her. Colton appeared at Summer's elbow, drink in hand, and smiled amiably. "This is my brother Colton," Summer told the guys, rolling her eyes.

"See, Seth told you they wouldn't bite!" Colton told her with a big grin. Summer slapped his arm.

"Don't give them any ideas!" she joked back.

"Grr," Jared said plainly, waving a clawed hand at Summer's face. She laughed loudly.

Brady and Collin took to Colton quickly, like I knew they would. They were all around fourteen, which helped them connect, and Colton went on about the newest video game that had the two younger wolves demanding a detailed synopsis of it. They went and sat on a log and chomped down on chips and brownies while Summer chatted amiably with Paul and Jacob. Jared and Kim had wandered over to their own little bench and Embry headed out to relieve Leah for a quick perimeter run.

As I watched my sister make her way over to the bonfire, I felt Summer tense up beside me. She had caught sight of my sister beyond Jacob and Paul's massive forms, and was outright staring as Leah headed towards the food. Emily discreetly slipped over to Sam and sat with him and Old Quil while Leah loaded a plate and headed over. I was pretty sure she was just trying to get as far away from Sam and Emily as possible, and that left her with the log just to the right of Summer and me. Summer's bright green eyes turned up to me in question as Leah sat on the log and began to eat.

"Uh, Leah," I said, clearing my throat. She looked up at me.

"What?" she asked simply. She continued to eat her hotdog as she waited for me to speak.

"This is…Summer," I told her, gesturing to the girl under my arm.

Leah gave Summer a dark look before returning to her food.

"It's really nice to meet you, Leah," Summer said softly. Leah snorted.

"Likewise," she answered sarcastically. Summer looked up at me, confused, before looking back down at Leah.

"I'm thirsty, Seth," Summer told me with a sweet smile.

"Let's get you a drink," I suggested, taking her hand. She smiled at me, but made no move to head across the bonfire with me. Jacob looked at me like I was missing something obvious, and Paul thumped me on the back of the head.

"I'm hungry. Let's go get some of Summer's brownies, Seth," Paul told me. He looked pointedly at where my hand was holding hers. I let go and he nodded just slightly, and jutted his chin to where the food was.

Jacob and Paul led the way over to the food and I glanced back to see Summer sink down on the log beside my volatile sister.

"Hey man, subtlety is not your specialty," Paul told me easily as he and Jacob stuffed their faces with brownies. I took one and ate slowly, watching my sister and imprint talk. I strained to hear what they were saying.

"Just because you're genetically a bitch doesn't mean you have to act like one," Summer told Leah. Leah glared at her, but Summer was staring into the flames of the bonfire, and didn't seem to notice Leah's death glare.

"You don't know me," Leah told her with venom in her voice. She was staring at Sam and Emily again, and Summer's eyes followed hers.

"Probably better than you think," Summer contradicted her quietly. She touched Leah's arm and they both jumped as if they had been shocked or something. Leah was silent until Summer pulled her hand away and ran her fingers through her hair.

"What the hell was that?" Leah asked. Her voice was strangely vulnerable.

"Static electricity?" Summer suggested weakly. Her argument sucked, and Leah apparently wasn't buying it either.

"Not likely," Leah said harshly. Summer glared at her.

"You want to hang out tomorrow?"

Summer's question caught Leah completely off guard. Leah hadn't had any girls to hang out with since she shifted, and even before then, she was pushing her friends away. Summer hadn't seemed to be anywhere close to what Leah would consider a friend, and neither of them had been particularly kind or friendly to each other. But my sister apparently saw something she liked in my imprint because she agreed and they made plans to meet up after Leah's morning patrol.

When Summer walked over to where I was standing with the guys, Jacob handed her a coke and she smiled. Paul and I were staring at her with our jaws slightly open, and Jacob was looking just as wide-eyed.

"What?" Summer demanded. She touched her cheek. "Is there something on my face?"

"You just got Leah to hang out with you. Voluntarily," Paul stated. Summer waited, obviously not sure what to think of that.

"Okay, and?" she prodded.

"And so that's never happened before. Leah's a cold-hearted bitch who hates all of us. And now-she's…not glaring at us," Paul continued. He gave her a slightly intimidated look. "What kind of magic do you work?"

Summer laughed, but the sound was off-slightly hysterical.

"You're funny, Paul. She's a girl. You guys obviously don't know her as well as you think."

Sam whistled, calling all of us to sit down around the fire. Leah went to sit with my mom and Paul and Jacob called for Summer to sit with them. She grabbed my hand and tugged me along after them. Billy and Old Quil started telling the legends of the tribe, and I watched Summer's face as she listened intently to the elders. Watching for her expressions and reactions reminded me faintly of the last bonfire, when Leah, Quil and I heard the stories, and Jacob stared at Bella the whole night for her reactions. I couldn't really help the way I was watching Summer; she was my imprint, but I wanted to see how she felt about my tribe and my culture. The excitement on her face was clear, but she listened silently as she sat between Paul and me. Paul was watching her too; he was as amused as I was by the way she reacted to Billy's telling of the Cold Ones, wincing as the third wife killed herself, and smiling when Taha Aki burned the cold woman.

When the stories were over, the elders all headed home. My mom drove Billy and Old Quil back to our house and the rest of us got to have the real party. Colton walked over with Brady and Collin and grinned at Summer.

"Those were some stories, huh Sum?" he asked her lightly. She nodded, distracted, as she stared out over the waves. Colton glanced at me, then back at his sister. "Sum?" he asked. She looked at him, and they got really, really quiet. I watched with Jacob, Paul, Collin, and Brady as they seemed to communicate just with their eyes. Colton looked troubled, and Summer looked angry. They almost looked as though they were having an argument.

"Whatever," she said to Colton out loud. He rolled his eyes, caught me staring, and shrugged as he headed off with Collin and Brady to kick around a soccer ball.

Summer and I talked a while longer while Paul and Jacob went to harass the younger guys. When it got late and things began to wind down, Summer called Colton back over to her and told him it was time for them to leave.

"Okay," Colton said with a shrug. He went to tell his new buddies goodbye, and I stood with Summer as she walked over and thanked Emily and Sam. We walked hand in hand up to her car and stood outside of it, waiting for Colton.

"So…you're going to hang out with my sister," I suggested in the quiet night. Summer's tinkling laugh danced between us as she smiled up at me, her pale green eyes laughing.

"Yep," she agreed. A smug grin graced her pretty face and I kissed her soundly.

"Why?" I asked when I pulled away for her to breathe. Summer's chuckle was music to my ears.

"Well, we're more similar than she thinks. And I actually like your sister-is that hard to believe?"

"Well, yeah," I said definitely. "She's hard to like." Summer slapped my arm lightly.

"Seth!" she squealed. "That's your sister!"

"Yeah, well, I love her. Sometimes I just don't like her," I explained. Summer rolled her eyes and glanced past me as Colton jogged up and got into the car. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Actually, you probably won't. Leah mentioned that you run patrol together, and she and I are going to drive up to Port Angeles so Colt can hang out with Toby. We'll be gone all day."

"Oh, well, maybe tomorrow night?" I asked. I didn't want to admit how anxious I was at the thought of not seeing her all day. Summer smirked.

"We'll see," she said as she pecked me on the lips and got in her car. Colton turned up the volume on the radio, the music pounding in the quiet night, and they drove off, Colton singing along to the song.


	9. Girl's Day Out

Leah walked up to the front door straight from the forest and knocked.

"The door's open, Leah!" I yelled as I threw a fuzzy blanket across the back of the sofa and trailed into the kitchen in search of my coffee.

"Summer?" Leah called in the entrance way. I popped my head around the corner of the kitchen.

"Hey, come on in. I'm not dressed yet, but I'll be ready to go soon," I explained. I heated my coffee in the microwave before taking it and padding down to my bedroom. I kicked my slippers off, stripped my pajamas, and dressed quickly in my jeans and soft black sweater. When I opened my bedroom door, I called Leah in while I put on my makeup.

"God, this room reeks like my brother," Leah drawled as she sat on the edge of my made bed and crossed her ankles. She lounged back on her elbows and stared at me as I applied mineral foundation to my face.

"Well," I chuckled. "He spends the most time in here. I'll have to try to remember to air it out next time for your delicate senses," I drawled sarcastically. Leah smirked; I started sweeping on eyeshadow and liner.

"Where are we going today anyway?" Leah asked as I swiped on blush, lipgloss, and put everything away hurriedly.

"Colt and his friend Toby have something to do, so I'll drive them to Port Angeles. I figured we could shop or something for the rest of the day, get some lunch, and then come back here and watch sappy movies. Do you want to spend the night?"

"Um…" Leah hesitated. I watched her expectantly. She shrugged. "Sure?" It sounded like a question.

"Well you either want to or you don't," I said simply as I grabbed my purse and flicked off the light. We went down the hall and into the living room where Colton and Toby were waiting.

"I want to," Leah decided. I locked up the house and we piled into my little car before I started off for Port Angeles. I put on girl power songs so that Leah would enjoy the ride a little more, and I actually caught a few smiles from her along the way.

When I pulled into Port Angeles, Toby directed me to the area of town he and Colt wanted to be in. I pulled up to the pier and put the car in park as I turned around to look at Colton. His big green eyes stared back at me, open and honest, knowing that I was instantly going protective mother-hen on him.

"Got your phone?" I asked. He held it up for my inspection. I nodded. "Get out. I'll pick you two up at three."

"Awesome, thanks Summer," Toby told me as he hopped out.

"Love you, Sum," Colton told me quietly.

"Love you, too," I called as he got out and shut his door. I felt Leah's eyes on me as I pulled out. "What?"

"He really likes you. Your brother," she elaborated. I turned the music down a little and shrugged.

"We're pretty much it for each other. He kind of has to like me," I explained. Leah nodded.

"Yeah, Seth mentioned your parents," Leah whispered. I glanced at her, shocked.

"He did?" I asked, surprised. Leah's left shoulder popped up quickly before going back down.

"He didn't really mean to. We hear each other's thoughts in wolf form. No one really wants their thoughts read, but it just happens."

"Hmm," I murmured. The wolf telepathy was new information. I pulled up to a strip of stores. "Well, we are here to shop. I'm not the only one who is going to try on clothes, so put that in your mind right now. If you end up liking something, I'm buying it for you, _no exceptions_." Leah's eyes widened just the slightest as she looked at my fierce glare.

"You know, you can be kind of scary if you try," Leah decided as we climbed out of the car. I smirked, locked the vehicle, and we headed in to the shops.

Our day passed in one of those movie-montage ways where the main girl stars go shopping at a mall and try on ridiculous outfits and laugh and giggle all day. It was obnoxiously cliché, but Leah seemed to need the girl time more than I had originally anticipated. I found that I liked her a hell of a lot more than my first impression had shown me, and she was really the one true friend that I had made since moving in to our latest safehouse. Other than Seth and my brother, and the few acquaintances I had at Forks High, Leah was pretty much it.

At lunch, we started the heavy stuff, and our moods turned somber and almost mournful.

"Sam and I dated for a long time," Leah began as she stirred her chocolate milkshake. Her lips were etched into a dreary frown across her pretty tan face, and her eyes stared just past mine, remembering and reliving. "Everyone was pretty convinced we were going to get married. I think we were just waiting until graduation, and then he was going to propose. I thought my life was close to perfect. He was everything.

"And then he got sick, and stopped talking to me. When he finally did come around, he wasn't the same. He was distant. My cousin Emily came up for a visit, and that's the last time Sam was truly mine." Leah's dark eyes found mine suddenly, and they were full of anger, hatred, agony, sadness, and bitterness, all roiling inside of her. "I had to find out later that he was seeing Emily in the trees. Then he…they had a horrible accident, and he scarred her face. She was in the hospital, and then they were publically together."

I waited for a long while, just watching Leah, before I knew she was ready for me to speak. Our lunch was gone, the bottom of Leah's milkshake was melted, and my water stood in front of me, half full.

"Tyler had always been there, for as long as I can remember. There wasn't a day that went by that he wasn't with me. We did everything together; I played cars and swords and he played Barbie and house. Our parents were all best friends and had grown up with each other. When we got to high school, it just seemed natural that we would date. Everything about our relationship was perfect. He brought me flowers when I stayed home sick; I cooked him dinner on Thursday nights; I was a cheerleader; he was the star quarterback. We were really happy."

Leah's night-dark eyes watched my face. I knew that I was blushing. Talking about Tyler with Seth's sister was just weird, no matter how much I liked her or how close we were becoming.

"What happened? Why did it stop?" Leah asked stiffly. Her posture was ram-rod straight, her eyes troubled as she looked in to mine.

"One night, my dad came home really upset. He asked Tyler to leave, and I went with him." I paused here, biting my lip as I remembered that horrid night with so much regret. "When I got home, my dad was gone, and there was a letter to me on my bed. It said that he was going back to Iraq to finish his tour, and he didn't know if he would be coming home. Two weeks later, we found out he was dead."

"What happened to him?" Leah asked, shocked. I gnawed my lip between my teeth, biting back tears. Strong, tough Leah was the last person I wanted to cry in front of.

"He was killed on duty. And one of his friends stopped by the house after the funeral and handed me a note. It was from my father, telling me that my mother had cheated on him with Tyler's father and that he couldn't live through the pain on her betrayal. His plan was to get killed on their next mission. And he did." I paused here, after my father's death; the story was mostly logic and mechanical for me to tell.

"My mom went nuts. Literally, she pretty much lost her mind. She became a vampire and just shut down emotionally, and then she attacked Colton one night, and I knew that I had to get him out of there. Tyler gave me a ton of his dad's money, said it was all his fault any way, and set up a safehouse for Colton and me in Nevada. When my mom found us, he relocated our safehouse. He's been taking care of us for two years now, and I could never repay him; I couldn't put a price on my brother's well-being. We used to talk every day or every other day on the phone, and I went back home for his dad's funeral.

"When I got there, one of our friends was comforting him. Caroline had always been pretty, but mean and stuck up. She had really changed, and Tyler fell for her. I guess I could kind of see why. But I didn't understand why he would date her when I still thought we were a couple. He said he didn't have the heart to tell me." I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "That boy is such a liar. I cut ties with him and moved Colton on my own, and we've been on our own since August."

Leah didn't say anything for a long time. She stared at me with her dark eyes, and seemed to be searching for something inside of me. We stood together at the same time and moved towards the parking lot to head to a book store close by.

When we were in the deep loveliness of Barnes and Noble, Leah seemed to find herself and her questions.

"How…how do you deal with it?" she asked. I looked up into her face-she was taller than me by a good few inches-and felt my face change into one of confusion.

"Well, first I got pissed. I broke a few things by throwing them at the wall at a friend's house. Then I cried for a while-a few days, I think. I scared Colton half to death. After I calmed down emotionally on the outside, I started by dating any guy I could get in my clutches. I just hooked up randomly with people. I mean, I didn't sleep with them, but we went pretty far. And then one day, Colton just looked at me…like he didn't even know who I was anymore. He hated all of the guys I brought home, and honestly, they were all assholes, but…I just…stopped. And then I met Seth, and since then, I've been able to deal with it a lot better."

Leah seemed to think on that. I took my books up to the counter and paid for them and handed Leah a bag.

"What's this?" she asked. So far, I had only managed to buy her two tops and a new pair of jeans.

"Well, one of those books is for Seth to use for studying. He's been having problems in his English class, so I grabbed a translated copy of his next Shakespeare play. And the other book is for you."

"What's it about?" Leah demanded, looking through the bag. Though her voice was hard, I could see the excitement showing in her face.

"Well, it helped me a lot when I started to feel abandoned. It's this author that I really like, and it's an easy read. I think you might like it," I shrugged. Leah looked at me hard for a long minute. When she threw her arms around me suddenly, books and bag and all, I was shocked, but quickly returned the hug.

Leah pulled away a little gruffly and scratched her twitching left eye.

"So, the cure for having your heart broken is to…find another guy?" she asked me skeptically. I shrugged.

"How do you expect to get over Sam if you never look for a better guy?" I put up. Leah's glare was instant.

"Sam _was_ the best."

"That's what I thought about Tyler."

Our look lasted longer this time, Leah's was piercing and a little confused while mine was mostly defiant. I only wanted her to understand just exactly she was putting herself through.

We walked towards my car slowly, each stewing with our own thoughts. When I unlocked the doors and we climbed in, I paused after I had started the vehicle.

"Leah," I began hesitantly. I felt her eyes on me, but I stared straight out my windshield into the rainy, dreary day outside. "All this that I've told you today…a lot of it is really private."

"Seth doesn't know you mean," she assumed. I nodded cautiously. Leah's heavy sigh made me turn and look at her in question. "I'll try not to think about all you've told me when he's around."

"So you're not going to give me a regaling speech on the wonders of an honest relationship and demand I tell your brother?" I snorted. Leah shrugged with one arm and smirked.

"The way I see it, you're stuck with him either way, honest or not. But it's your call-not my relationship," she stated. I laughed and pulled out of the parking space and headed to the pier to pick up Colton and Toby.

**Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? I know Leah's a little out of character, but I'm doing my best to keep her a little bitter.**

**Also, this does have a little Vampire Diaries TV show flavor, but I'm only using the Tyler/Caroline relationship-in my own way-and their kind of vampire/werewolf system. Summer and Colton's mother is like a Katherine, but way weirder and worse.  
**


	10. Reunited and Phone Call

"Dude, you need to calm down. She's with Leah," Jacob told me. Paul guffawed and laughed.

"That isn't much comfort," he drawled in a low voice. A growl slipped from my lips, and Paul's eyes widened in shock. I hardly ever growled at anyone. Sam thumped him on the back of his head with the hand that wasn't holding Emily to him. "Sorry," Paul told me darkly, looking at my face briefly.

I had gone through more than half of Emily's huge batch of muffins, and I was working on a full pot of mac and cheese. Eating didn't fill the void in my chest where Summer belonged, but it filled my grumbling stomach. Plus, it made Paul jealous that Emily made me comfort food.

"She's going to be fine, Seth," Sam told me. His words burned with truth; he had every confidence in Leah. "Leah will protect Summer with her life. You know that."

"Does Leah even _like _Summer?" Jared asked from where he was sitting on the sofa with Kim.

"_That _is an excellent question, my friend," Embry mumbled around a mouthful of muffin. We all waited for him to elaborate after swallowing. "When we ran patrol this morning, she was excited, but she didn't really think much about liking Summer. It was more about learning more. She thinks they might have a lot in common, because of what Summer said at the bonfire."

Sam's phone made a light ding, and we all looked at him. Emily wrapped her arms around his waist as he read what was on the phone carefully. He looked up at all of us with a very neutral face.

"Summer and Leah are back. They are not to be interrupted on pain of death. Apparently, Leah will be spending the night there," Sam informed us all.

"What?" the pack chorused as one. Sam held his hands up in surrender, and didn't say another word.

* * *

The next morning, I was waiting on Summer's doorstep at the first second of what Emily deemed a "reasonable hour." It was ten o'clock in the morning, and I hadn't seen my imprint in more than twenty-four hours. I was going stir-crazy. When I knocked, it was Summer who answered. She grinned at me sweetly, her pale green eyes bright and dancing with mischief.

"I thought you might show up. Come on in," she invited me, stepping aside. I grabbed her waist and pulled her to me tightly and crashed my lips down on hers. Her body was warm and soft in my arms, and her scent struck me as I kissed her. The smell of the air from a bright sunny day, warm vanilla, and lots of flowers that I didn't know the names of. Summer kissed me back after a moment of shock. When I pulled away after a long time, there was a pink flush not just in her cheeks, but all over her beautiful face.

"Hey, beautiful," I told her softly as I kissed her pink forehead. She grinned up at me.

"Well, hello, handsome," she laughed. She shut the door and pulled me into the house. It was neat as a pin, which was a bit of a surprise to me, since Colton hated picking up and Summer hated telling him what to do.

"Where's Leah?" I asked. "Did you have a nice time?"

"She's out on patrol. And yes, we had a lovely time. I _love_ your sister!" Summer told me enthusiastically as she sipped on a cup of coffee.

"Are we talking about the same Leah Clearwater?" I asked, confused. No one liked Leah much anymore; she was way too bitter about _everything_-not just the Sam/Emily fiasco.

Summer's face was immediately serious. The joking air had stopped immediately.

"You all looked, but none of you _saw_," Summer told me cryptically. She spun on her heel and headed to her bedroom. I followed, as always.

"What does that mean?" I asked. Summer just waved her hand.

"Don't worry about it," she told me. Her entire face lit up. "Leah's much better now."

"Much better," I echoed doubtfully. Summer frowned, but we dropped the subject immediately. "Where's Colt?" I asked, sniffing the air experimentally. His scent seemed faded.

"Out with Toby. I'm convinced they have girlfriends at this point. Colt's been secretive for days," Summer explained lightly. She wrinkled her nose in distaste. I followed her back into the living room; why we had gone to her bedroom only to turn back around and leave was beyond me.

The phone rang suddenly, screeching at an obscene volume from Summer's bedroom. She ran to catch it while I made myself at home in the kitchen. I grabbed a snack and the remote and collapsed on the sofa to watch whatever awful TV show was on that Summer taped. I heard her muttering in the other room before she came over to me, eyes wide, lips parted. She held her phone off to the side, away from her ear and mouth.

"The Cullens want to request a meeting with the wolves. Edward saw Leah leave and you come over; they want a direct link to ask the pack for an audience now," Summer told me. Though her expression was composed, I could taste the sharp tang of fear in the air. It was slight, but noticeable enough for me to smell it and put me on edge immediately. I reached for the phone, told whatever Cullen it was that I would call back, and dialed Sam's number. Summer tucked herself under my free arm immediately, curling into my side and burrowing in my warmth. She had rarely behaved like this before, but she had never really feared anything in front of me before, either.

Sam agreed to a meeting on the border at noon, and I returned the call to Edward Cullen-Bella Swan's boyfriend. He sounded nice enough and polite over the phone, but Summer was a little shaken under my arm, and that was enough to put me on edge. After I hung up with the Cullen, Summer and I watched TV for half an hour. When I stood to leave, her eyes widened as she tugged my hand to try to pull me back down beside her.

"Where are you going?" she demanded. Her pale green eyes were wide, wild even, and glittered in the low lighting coming from the TV screen. Her grip on my hand was tighter than normal. She seemed…possessive of me.

"I have to get back for the meeting. I need to go now," I explained. Summer shook her head rapidly.

"Stay with me," she whispered. Her bottom lip quivered just a little, and I almost broke. She had never looked so sad or desperate before-she was either really scared or really worried.

"Hey, I'll be back in a little while," I told her, sitting down to cradle her in my arms. She curled into me immediately, snaking her arms around my shoulders and neck to hold herself to me. I could feel her warm body press against mine, and my eyes took in her pleading green ones once again.

I knew that I was hers, in every single way, but I knew that Sam needed me to be at the meeting, especially since I had accepted on his behalf. And, despite the fact I wanted my imprint nowhere near the genteel Cullens, it was her phone that they had called, and it was her who was scared enough to beg me-for the first time-to stay out of fear.

"Summer, I want to stay, but I have to go. I'll call you as soon as I get there, and as soon as I'm leaving to come back, alright? I really, really need to do this for Sam. Please let me go, baby," I whispered. The endearment slipped out by accident, but it hung between us, satisfying.

Her tight hold on me slowly lifted, until I was out of her arms and she was sitting placidly on the sofa. Her eyes stared straight ahead, looking at the TV, mindless. I kissed her lips, to which she responded by pressing back, and then her forehead before slipping out the front door quickly and heading into the trees. Across the street, a shiny silver Volvo pulled out of a driveway and sped away.

**A little short, but more coming up. Also, super-thanks to my guest reviewer! To answer your question, I don't know if their mom will show up in Forks, but she is definitely a vampire and definitely not dead. And she definitely is not pleased with her kids running around the country at the moment, so...**


	11. Newborns and Babysitters

**Sorry for the wait! This is the next installment, in Summer's POV. And I am so excited to have passed 1,000 views! Whoo! But I'm disappointed in how many people read my story (looks like all the way through) and don't review. I LOVE hearing from people and I would like feedback. Drop me a comment, guys!**

Seth left at 11:45 and didn't return until 4:55. He had called to tell me where he was as we had agreed, but not hearing from him for hours on end put me on edge. I ended up cleaning the entire house in my frustration, and took a long bath, painted my nails and toenails, and had even started a book for school that I didn't have to begin for another week. The second Seth was turning the lock on my front door and stepping inside, I was in his arms.

His warm, familiar, forest scent comforted me as I breathed it in with deep gulps of air. Seth's large hand smoothed down my dark hair slowly as he comforted me in the middle of the doorway. When I was calm enough to step back, Seth shut the door and headed straight for the sofa. The shirt he had been wearing earlier was noticeably absent, and his feet were bare and a little dirty. Though I didn't care as long as he was near me, Seth courteously kept his feet off of my clean sofa, and on a towel laid out on the floor that I had used while painting my nails.

"I know you want to ask about it," he told me after he had relaxed into the sofa and closed his eyes. I was curled into his side, almost as close as I could possibly get without removing clothes, and yet he still felt too far away from me. "We met in this clearing not too far from their house, and we talked about the redhead. Apparently, she has an army of new Cold Ones, and they're so awful in the first year that they can barely be controlled. There've been a lot of disappearances in Seattle for the past few months, and the blonde guy-not the doctor-thinks that the redhead is making an army to come and attack to get Bella. So Sam agreed for us to fight with them. The short dark-haired girl thinks they'll be here in two weeks," Seth explained. He had one eye cracked open and trained on me while he went through what had happened at their meeting, but I stared back at him, containing my unhappiness.

This was his job. No matter how much I hated him being away from me to fight monsters; I couldn't be selfish and keep him tied to me. The commotion in Seattle, however, was something that I knew attracted more than just Cold Ones, and I felt the first shivers of knowledge creep up my spine as I realized that my mother might not be all that far from my backyard.

"So, you're okay with this?" Seth asked me softly. I nodded tentatively, still having an internal debate on whether or not to spill the beans about my mother and admit my fears to Seth. But I wouldn't do that without asking Colt's opinion first and he was away, so…

I nodded. Seth smiled and kissed my forehead.

"Good, because there's something else," he broached. I waited. "We're training with the Cullens so we can learn how to fight the newborns-they're apparently different-and so I'll be out more than usual. Jacob and I were the only volunteers to learn from them, so we'll go watch them practice together every other night."

"Okay," I said softly, understanding-or at least trying to. Not only was I not getting Seth as much as I needed/wanted, I was going to be getting even less of him.

How selfish of me.

"Sam changed our patrols, too. Now we all have a regular circuit around your house and Bella's. You'll be seeing a lot more wolves in the woods over this way. But don't be scared," Seth told me softly, pulling me a little closer. His dark eyes sparkled slightly; the eye contact alone eased my mind and body quickly. I felt like a puddle of goo under his stare.

After we cuddled on the sofa watching _Friends_ for a while, Seth turned and smiled at me during a commercial break.

"So, how was the rest of your day?" he asked me softly, nudging his nose playfully against mine. I nudged back with an answering smile.

"Lonely," I admitted honestly. I paused. "So much better now that you're here."

I kissed Seth then, taking him by surprise, and swung myself into his lap effortlessly. He gasped against my lips; I grinned into the kiss.

Two hours later, in the comfort of my soft bed, Seth kissed my neck softly and held me to his chest by my stomach lightly.

"I'd rather you not work this week," he whispered in my ear. "I won't be around as much, and I'm worried."

"I'll be fine," I stated immediately.

"Would you take one of the guys with you?" Seth tried to compromise. I shook my head adamantly. "Please?" he begged, flipping me so that he could see my uneasy face. His dark eyes probed mine, seeming to search for answers that I wouldn't speak willingly.

"Seth," I groaned as his stare wore my will down.

"Paul thinks you're great. He won't laugh or tease you, I _promise_!" Seth told me emphatically.

"Seth," I tried to begin. He placed his finger over my lips, silencing me.

"You don't know how much better I would feel if you took him with you," Seth whispered. He kissed my cheek, up to my eye, down my nose, and landed on my lips. His full lips against mine were like heaven, and I cursed him in my head for making it so easy to give in. When had I become a spineless girl that caved to her boyfriend's every whim? I used to have _him_ at _my_ beck and call. Now I couldn't seem to resist his charms. Or the sex.

"Fine," I mumbled against his lips as I forcefully flipped us over.

* * *

The next day, Seth patrolled, and Paul was at my house after school, sitting on my porch like a sentry. He smiled when I walked up with Colton, and I tried to return it tentatively. I was pretty sure it came out more like a grimace. I let Colton and Paul inside, made them each a snack, and started on my homework. Paul joined me in my bedroom.

"So," he intoned as he stood in the doorway. His head barely cleared the trim to pass through. "This is where the magic happens."

I threw a pillow at him immediately and scowled; he howled in laughter. After a long time of his booming guffaws at his own humor, he collapsed on the side of my bed closest to the wall, which was usually my side, and propped his head up on my pillows.

"Well, I can certainly smell the kid," he decided, wrinkling his nose. His comment echoed Leah's almost exactly, and cued a chuckle from me as I bent over my textbook and notebook. "What?" Paul asked defensively.

"Leah said the same thing," I smirked. Paul rolled his eyes and stared up at the ceiling.

"When do you have to leave here?" he asked.

"About an hour or so," I said with a glance at my phone. Paul nodded thoughtfully. He was quiet until I shut my textbook and tossed my notebook into my bag. I pulled out a poem to annotate and went through it quickly. I was only halfway down the page when Paul spoke quietly, his voice a soft murmur.

"Seth likes you. A lot," Paul hedged. I felt myself stiffen at the mention of Seth, and again at Paul's clearly uncomfortable tone. Though his body was totally relaxed, his forehead creased in just the slightest, alerting me that all was not well.

"Seth's great," I agreed. Paul waited for me to say something; I waited for him to say something. The result was a tense silence. "We're going to be late," I notified him as I glanced down at my phone. Paul stood from my bed and followed me out of the house and over to my car. When we were halfway to Port Angeles, he spoke up again.

"This place…Summer, you can do so much better," Paul told me softly.

"Paul," I started, slightly irritated. I took a deep, intense breath, and tightened my grip on the steering wheel. When I eased my fierce grip thirty seconds later, I was relaxed enough to not say another word on the matter. "How do you feel about this whole babysitting issue? Do you think Seth's overreacting?"

My change of subject seemed to surprise Paul, but he answered me dutifully in his strong, calm voice.

"I think that Seth has every right to worry about you. If having you with someone 24/7 is what it takes to make him feel better, then I'll stay with you the whole time. He needs peace of mind and you need someone to protect you-whether you admit that to yourself or not."

Paul and I rode in silence the rest of the drive, and when I pulled in to the usual parking lot, he didn't say a word. Paul followed me down the busy sidewalk to the bar I worked at. Much to my surprise, though, he didn't stop at the door like Seth always did; Paul walked in right beside me, sweeping his eyes across the crowded, dark room as he did so. His muscles and height stood out in a sea of slim, more compact men, and even the lone bouncer at the door didn't dare card him or stop him as he followed me to the back and into the employee locker room.

"Paul," I protested as he glared at the myriad of waitresses and bartenders that passed by, staring, on their way out to the floor. Paul looked at me and softened his glare.

"I'm not here to _babysit_ you, Summer; I'm here to protect you. If that means I follow you all night long, get used to it. I'll sit at a table in the front room, but I refuse to be separated from you by walls for more than a couple of minutes. Seth is trusting me with you and I'm not going to let the kid down."

Paul was as good as his word. He didn't physically follow me all night, but his eyes did. I could feel his gaze settle on my shoulders like a weight or a burden that I had to carry, and even when I was behind closed doors waitressing the VIP rooms, I felt his heavy watching. I hadn't realized before just how intense Paul could be, and I certainly didn't realize just how fiercely members of the pack protected the others' imprints. Despite by groaning before, I felt genuinely safe under Paul's eyes, and the bodyguard protection soon melted to the back of my mind. For the first time at my job in Port Angeles, I felt truly safe.


	12. Kicked Out

**Wow, two updates in one day! I'm so excited for this chapter, it came to me out of nowhere and I had to get it out. This has been my favorite one to write so far, so please consider reviewing this one.**

**Warning: Slight swearing, but nothing bad. Just hell, I think.  
**

When Seth returned to me in the morning, I felt like a drug addict in withdrawals. Paul had kept me company until we had pulled up outside of my house. Just as he disappeared into the trees, Jacob walked out and followed me inside. I hadn't seen much of Colton lately, but I felt that he was safe with Toby, and he texted me regularly. Jacob waited for me to change my clothes into pajamas before promptly deciding that he would spend the night in the living room on the sofa. Despite his vehement protests, I put sheets on the sofa, gave him one of my fluffiest pillows, and a blanket-just in case. I left him with free access to my kitchen and the remote for the TV.

When I woke up, Jacob was gone and Seth was eating a bowl of cereal on the sofa. I tackled him, ignoring the splashed milk, and kissed him soundly.

"Well good morning to you too," Seth chuckled as he set the dripping bowl down on the coffee table and tenderly put me at arm's length.

"I missed you," I explained. Seth grinned.

"I noticed. I missed you, too," he said, pulling me under his arm to watch TV. I groaned as I stood from his warm arms. I hated Tuesdays.

"I have to go to school," I sighed as I trudged to the kitchen to retrieve my necessary coffee.

"Okay, I have patrol after, but I guess I'll see you late tonight," Seth said. His face scrunched up adorably when I walked back into the living room. "Jake can come by this afternoon. Do you have work?"

"Yeah, but I'll switch with someone else. I have a big test tomorrow."

"Oh, good. Jake could use a nap or two."

"Well, I'll be sure to let him have my room later. I'll do homework in the kitchen."

"You don't have to do that."

"My house, my rules, Seth."

"You're going to be late," he said. I kissed him lightly on the lips.

"I know."

* * *

School was not a walk in the park. Bella seemed to think that since Seth was cool with being around the Cullens, she and I were officially best friends-or at least speaking to each other. I wasn't particularly thrilled with her assumption, but I decided that it wouldn't kill me to be nice to the girl, and Seth would probably get a kick out of it anyway. We spoke between classes and I sat with her, Edward, and Alice at lunch. Alice kept her hands to herself.

"Are you nervous?" Edward asked me halfway through my meal. I glanced up at him, my brow furrowed in confusion. "Your heartbeat is elevated today," he clarified. I shrugged.

"A little. I'm not really in the best mood."

"Why?" Alice asked. My gaze flickered to her.

"I didn't sleep well last night. Seth's not around much anymore."

"Jacob was with you, wasn't he?" Bella asked. I pursed my lips.

"Jacob doesn't sleep in my bed and keep the monsters away," I said. I smirked when Bella looked surprised by my 'monsters' comment. "It's whatever," I shrugged.

When the awkward lunch was over, I headed to my last few classes before heading home. Jacob was sitting on the front porch, leaning against a post, fast asleep. I nudged his leg with the toe of my shoe gently, but he didn't stir much.

"Jacob!" I called. He sat up abruptly in surprise.

"What!?" He paused, looked around, then up at me. "Oh, hey Summer. Did you know that this post just so happens to feel like a pillow?" he asked, wrapping his arms around it as he rested his head against it once more.

"Why don't you come inside," I offered. Jacob lumbered to his feet heavily and stumbled inside behind me. Colton wasn't home-big shock there. I led Jacob into my room and pulled back the covers on my bed. "Here," I offered.

"Summer-," Jacob began in protest.

"My house, my rules, my bed. You're tired. Go to sleep," I ordered, pointing at the tantalizing mattress. Jacob gave me a withering look in regard to my bossiness, but collapsed on the queen-sized bed nonetheless and fell asleep instantly.

* * *

That evening, the guys seemed to be in transition for patrols at my house. It seemed to suddenly become the werewolf hub, or hangout in Forks, as Emily's was in La Push. I didn't mind the extra bodies floating around my house nearly as much as I thought I would, and I bustled about to get everyone fed and comfortable. Seth, Brady, Collin, and Paul were just collapsing onto the sofa while Jared and Sam took over running the borders back from Emily's. Leah came inside to hang out before she switched off with Jared, and Brady and Collin with Sam, in four hours for the next shift. Jacob walked in just a half an hour after Leah and went straight to get homemade macaroni and cheese from the kitchen.

"This is the best," Paul informed me with his mouth stuffed. I smiled from under Seth's warm arm. The guys had put on a football game, but Leah and I vetoed it to a sitcom instead. We were all laughing and talking and hardly paying attention to the TV when the front door swung open and Colton walked in.

Colt looked awful. He looked pale in the face, his eyes were bloodshot, and he had large purple circles under his eyes. He threw his bag on the floor of the living room and stalked off down the hallway. The wolves had gone quiet.

"Colt?" I called as I stood up. He didn't answer me, and I flitted down the hallway behind him.

I heard him begin to blast music from the stereo Tyler and I had given him for his eleventh birthday. My ears ached immediately and I turned his doorknob, but it stopped-locked. I glared at the offending piece of metal before I slipped a bobby pin from my hair and picked the lock easily. First thing tomorrow morning, the lock on his door was going.

When I entered his room, I could finally smell it. The stench saturated Colton from head to toe, clinging to his clothes. Either the wolves hadn't wanted to get me angry, or they didn't know what the smell was, because there was no way their enhanced senses could miss that.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" I demanded immediately. Colton was sitting moodily on his bed, playing on one of his games. I took it from him and threw it across the room. It hit the wall with a clunk, and I glared at my brother fiercely. He knew how I felt about drugs of any kind; he had even seen me go through what I called my "alternative Summer phase" and he knew how much I hated myself for it every day of my life. I grabbed his chin and turned his face towards me so I could look into his eyes. His pupils were huge.

"Are you high?" I asked.

"Go away, Summer," Colton told me coldly. I went over and flipped the stereo off.

"Like HELL I'll go away!" I screamed. There were faint shuffling sounds from the living room, but I ignored it. "Where. Have. You. Been." I punctuated each word with a glare. Colton wasn't even looking at me.

"It's none of your business," he told me, finally turning his face up to me to glare right back. His jade-green eyes were bloodshot, making them look greener than ever in the dim glow from his ceiling fan. His dark brown hair was a complete mess and the stench of pot hung around him like a thick fog.

My hand twitched, and before I could stop it, it flew up and smacked him across the face. His head flipped to the side, and I stared at him in horror as he slowly turned back to look at me, just as shocked as I was. I shrugged the shock off to continue on with my brother.

"Answer me," I commanded, my voice quiet, low, and deadly. Colton's face changed just the slightest.

"With Toby-I've been with Toby."

"And what have you been doing with Toby?" I demanded. Colton hesitated. "Don't lie to me. Tell me right now what you've been doing. I can smell it, Colton. Do you think I'm stupid, that I don't know the signs? Huh?"

"We've been smoking!" he retorted as he stood up from his bed. Despite my best efforts, Colton's height was impressive compared to my own 5'4", and he was able to tower over me considerably. My glare intensified. All was silent from the living room.

"Why?" I asked. My voice was ice-cold. Any sympathy I could possibly feel for my little brother was gone. The second he started smoking pot was the second I became less his sister and more his mother. This was wrong-he was wrong. I knew the path he was on, and I would be damned before I let him follow it.

Colton didn't answer my question, and so I held out my hand instead.

"I want your phone, your games, and anything else you find entertaining. The second my friends leave is the second the lock comes off your door. Privacy and trust are earned, Colton, and you have officially lost both."

"You don't understand," he retorted coldly. His green eyes were hard, watching me with ice inside. If I didn't know him any better, I would have sworn that my own brother hated me in that moment-hated me beyond anything else in the known world.

"I don't care if you think that. Phone. Games. Now," I said.

"You're not my mother," he told me. "You're not the boss of me."

"As long as you are living in the house that _I_ pay for, you follow _my_ rules. Give me your phone and your games _now_." Colton handed me his phone. I shoved it in my pocket. "Do you have any on you right now?" I asked. He rolled his eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he told me.

"I think you know _exactly_ what I'm talking about. Either you give it to me willingly right now or you're going in the other room while I tear your room apart and look for it."

Colton glared at me, and I was sure that he hated me.

"Go to hell," he told me in a low voice. I watched him silently for a long, tense minute. When I was sure that he was listening, I finally spoke.

"Get out," I said softly. I made sure to keep my voice gentle, even, and calm. I was done with this. "You're out of this house as of right now. If you think you're going to ruin both of our lives, you have another thing coming. I have sacrificed _everything _to make a better life for you and to make sure that you get to even _live_ your life. I have put a roof over _your_ head, food in _your_ mouth, and things and money to use to have fun. I may not be mom and dad, but I have done more than any sister ever should have to do. If this is the way you're going to repay me, then I am not doing anything for you anymore. Pack up some clothes and get out of my house."

Colton's heated glare didn't lighten up as he threw three sets of clothes in his bookbag and stalked out of his room. He shoved me into the wall with his shoulder on the way out, and I followed him back into the living room. The pack sat there, shocked into complete silence, as Colton went to the front door and let himself out. I followed and slammed the door shut behind him. The windows on either side of the door rattled and the door itself shivered.

Colton stepped out into the rainy night and disappeared down the dark, dimly lit street.


	13. Calm After the Storm

**This is just a filler chapter, really. Next chapter, Summer may or may not let Colton come home, and we'll have a time skip to the battle. Special thanks to my outstanding reviewer, WhiteDusk8888-you are totally awesome!**

Summer's face was murderous. I couldn't believe what Colton had done, though. Everyone was absolutely silent. Brady and Collin, who had liked Colton the minute they met him, were dumbstruck as they stared at Summer wide-eyed from the sofa. Leah watched my imprint with a mixture of respect, surprise, and genuine discomfort. Jacob and Paul were watching her; shocked that she had flown off the handle the way she had. Although Paul had had a rebellious phase just before becoming a wolf, even he hadn't gone home to his family high like Colton was.

"Summer," Jacob hedged carefully in the silent living room. Someone had switched off the TV when Colton had left. Summer glared up at Jake, her short stature seemed to melt away into a formidable opponent with her obvious ferocity. Jacob held up his hands placatingly and stuttered slightly under the influence of her glare. "I was just going to say that the redhead is out there, and it's dangerous for him to be out alone."

Summer rolled her eyes and picked up her cell phone. She seemed insulted that Jake thought she would leave her brother vulnerable.

"Bella, is your dad home?" she asked calmly into the phone. I guessed that Bella's answer was yes, because Summer asked to talk to him. "Good evening, Chief Swan," Summer said formally as she unloaded her pockets on the coffee table. She took out Colton's cell phone and turned it off. "Listen, I have a situation. My brother and I are alone while my parents are away, and I'm taking care of him. It turns out that he's been doing marijuana. I kicked him out for the night, but I don't want him going to his friend's house. Is there any way you can pick him up and hold him at the station until he comes to his senses? He needs to have the life scared out of him." Summer paused. "Thanks, Chief-I mean Charlie. Good night."

"Do you want us to leave?" Paul asked her softly. His huge plate of macaroni sat in his lap, unfinished and cold. Summer looked shocked.

"No! Of course not!" she said easily. She grabbed Colton's cell phone from the coffee table and headed to the kitchen. I instinctively followed her.

Colton's cell phone was on the counter, beneath Summer's hand. She had braced her hands on either side of the kitchen sink and was staring to her right, out the back door into the foggy, dark night. When she felt me enter the room, she swiped her free hand over her cheeks and slipped Colton's phone into one of the kitchen drawers. She smiled over at me, but it was watery and I braced myself for her heart-wrenching tears. Her sadness was intolerable.

"Are you sure about this?" I couldn't help but ask as I wrapped my arms around her smaller frame. She laid her head against my chest, just above my heart, and sighed softly.

"This is what it took to scare it out of me," she whispered. "My parents kicked me out, the sheriff picked me up, and I never smoked again. If he has to learn the hard way; so be it."

"You never mentioned you smoked," I smiled at her jovially. I had to make that sad little pout disappear. She barked out a laugh at my happy voice.

"You never asked. It's not one of my proudest moments. I went through what I refer to as the 'alternative Summer phase.' Alternative Summer was high and drunk most of the time and always got in trouble. When her dad came home for Christmas, she was officially busted. She hasn't shown up since," Summer explained to me lightly with a smirk. Her frown returned as she gazed up at me, green eyes wide and childlike suddenly. "Was I too hard on him? I know I'm not his mom, but I'm the only authority figure he has."

"You were fine, Sum," I told her softly. "Like you said, he has to learn."

"Seth," she protested, her eyes serious. "I kicked him out."

"He deserved it."

Summer's pale green eyes looked into mine for a long, long time. She seemed calm, and the emotions swirling around her eyes had stopped. Her arms wrapped around my waist; her fingers pressed into my bare skin firmly. Slowly, a smile spread across her face. She closed her eyes, tilted her head back for a kiss, and waited. I didn't waste any time in fulfilling what she was searching for, and swooped in to capture her lips quickly.

"Awkward…" Brady and Collin chorused with nervous laughs. Summer and I pulled away, and she smiled at them warmly. She was back to her normal self, even if only briefly. I would take what I could get at this point.

"What can I do for you, boys?" she asked them.

"Can we have more food?" Brady asked simply. Summer smirked and waved her hand at the pot. The two rascals dove in immediately and loaded their plates. As they left the kitchen, Paul strolled in to place his plate in the sink. He smiled at Summer, walked over, and pulled her into a huge, bone-crushing hug. I heard some of her joints pop in protest, and only her giggle reassured me that Paul's hold wasn't hurting her. When he set her down, she kissed his cheek.

"Need something, Paul?" she asked. He smirked.

"I'm good Summer. I am heading out though-thanks for dinner. I'll be back in the morning to sit the house while you're at school."

"No school tomorrow; it's records day. And I have to pick Colton up at the police station. We can just hang out tomorrow."

"Sure thing, wolf-girl," Paul grinned. Summer slapped his arm and rolled her eyes while Paul laughed and left through the back door. He jogged into the trees and I turned to Summer, wondering what was going on. She shook her head with a smile.

"Paul's a dork," she informed me simply.

After a while, Jake headed out to run a circuit around Bella's house and loop around to Summer's. Collin, Brady, and Leah napped on the sofa while Summer and I watched a movie on TV. When I heard a howl off in the distance, I nudged Collin awake. He, Brady, and Leah headed out for patrol just as Jake returned from running. When he saw that it was just Summer and me in the living room, he hesitated, but Summer quickly roped him in to staying.

"Come on in, Jake!" she told him easily. She patted the spot on the sofa to her left, where Brady had previously been napping. "I lost my space heater. My feet are like ice cubes," she explained as she tucked her feet against the side of his thigh. Jacob rolled his eyes.

"Is that all I am, Summer?" he asked her dramatically. "A _foot warmer_? Is that all I am to you?" Summer giggled-the sound was like the prettiest bells in the world. Her laugh was music to my ears, especially after the blowout from earlier.

The three of us sat in a friendly silence while we watched some Disney movie I hadn't seen since I was about eight. Summer enjoyed it, which made me happy, but I could see that Jake was a little agitated. He kept twitching and shifting in his seat. When Summer finally noticed, she pulled his shoulders down to rest on her outstretched legs and gently stroked his hair. In all honesty, it looked like Summer was petting a dog, the way she stroked his hair slowly in measured movements, but Jake's twitching stopped. He stared up at the ceiling of Summer's living room and just relaxed under her touch. After about ten minutes of her petting, Jacob fell asleep.

We left Jacob on the sofa while we retreated to Summer's bedroom. The usually neat and orderly space was messy, with school books and paper strewn about her desk and bed.

"When Paul was over last night, we had to leave in a rush and I fell asleep with all of this stuff everywhere. I don't know how Jake fell asleep," she muttered quietly as she moved around, cleaning as she went. I scooped up papers to help, and she took them from me with a grateful smile. When the bed was clear, I rolled onto what had easily become my side, the outer side of the bed. Summer liked to sleep curled against the wall, except when I was around. Normally, she slept in my arms all night long, but when I left her, even for a minute, she unconsciously turned her back on the wall and curled up in a ball.

Summer took her shirt off and tossed it across the room into her laundry basket. I did my best to avert my eyes as she stripped off her jeans and bra as well. She pulled on one of my t-shirts and jumped over me to bury herself under the covers on her side of the bed. When she was settled, I turned off the lamp.

I reached out and pulled her into me, and she flipped over in response. I pulled her in as close as I could get her, with her back firmly pressed against my chest, and listened to her slowly slowing heartbeat. When she was peaceful and her heartbeat was steady, I breathed a little easier and snuggled down into my beautiful girl.


	14. Problems with Brothers

**Sorry about such a long wait for the update. This takes place the next morning, after Summer kicks Colton out. I hope everyone is enjoying reading this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it!**

"Sum," Seth whispered softly against my hair and cheek. I groaned and rolled closer to him on the bed. "Summer," he persisted, adding his warm hand to my cheek. He pushed my hair away. I groaned louder, hoping to get across the message that no, I was not going to open my eyes. "I have to run patrol, babe," Seth warned me. I clutched whatever warm body part-I assumed it was his shoulder-tighter. His answering laugh shook the bed. "Okay, I'm leaving now. Jake is still in the living room, and Paul will be here in just a few minutes."

Seth's hot lips pressed against my forehead before I reached for him. He returned, pecked my lips, chuckled, and stood from the bed.

I could tell immediately when Paul had arrived into my home, by way of the unlocked back door. There was instant, quiet chaos in the form of clanking, what sounded like stubbed toes, muttered curses, and finally a very loud thump that jolted me from sleep.

"What the-Paul!" Jacob shouted. There was a dull smack as flesh met flesh.

"Be _quiet_, Jacob, Summer is still _sleeping_!" Paul reprimanded him in a loud whisper. It sounded to me like neither of them knew how to be quiet.

Ten minutes later, the strange clanking resumed, along with a dull crash. My heavy eyes fought against opening, but I finally resigned myself to see what was wrong before killing Paul. I was sure that Jacob would assist me in inflicting damage on the boy. I made my way into the kitchen to see a mess: flour, eggs, bacon, pots, pans, dishes, and bowls littered the floor and counter. Paul's face and most of his torso was covered in white powder that I soon realized was pancake mix. The shocked look on his face upon discovering my stunned face was comical.

"Um, well, good morning Summer," he told me with an impish smile. Beneath the pancake mix, his cheeks were flushed. "I was…making breakfast you see, and…the bowl…flipped over."

Although my kitchen was a mess, Paul was a mess, Jacob was guffawing loudly in the corner of the kitchen closest to the living room, and I was severely sleep-deprived, the hilarity of the situation pursued until I was in hysterics. I laughed a huge belly-laugh until my face was red, I was crying, and my stomach was aching from the movement. Paul and Jacob had gone from amused to worried.

"Summer, breathe," Jacob told me urgently as I fought to catch my breath. I continued to giggle between rasping breaths. When I was sitting on the kitchen floor, legs sprawled and leaning against the doorjamb, my laughter finally relented.

"Well," Paul said, his eyes wide and eyebrows up. He clearly thought I had lost my mind…completely. I couldn't blame him. I stood up from the floor, washed my hands, and held out my hand for the spoon and bowl in Paul's arms. He reluctantly handed them over and I started breakfast for the three of us.

"Is anyone else stopping by?" I asked them lightly from the stove. After they had cleaned up the mess they had made, they took up seats at the kitchen table and were currently flipping through my _Seventeen_ magazine and brochures from colleges. Jacob grunted what sounded like a negative answer to my question.

"Where is Fordham University?" Paul asked as he held up the pamphlet for me to see. I barely glanced in his direction, suddenly shy. This was not a conversation I wanted to be having with my boyfriend's friends. Scratch that-_my_ friends. Paul was great, and Jacob was pretty cool, too.

"Summer?" Jacob prodded as he set down _Seventeen _and exchanged a glance with Paul that I caught out of the corner of my eye.

I placed two plates of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and toast in front of the boys before grabbing my plate from the counter to sit with them. It seemed as though my kitchen table was the table of confessions.

"Fordham is in New York City," I told them as I sipped my coffee.

For a long moment, neither of them said anything. For an even longer moment, they watched me eat in silence. Jacob was the one who had the guts to continue the conversation. He took the delicate approach.

"New York…that's pretty far," he hedged uneasily.

"Does Seth know that you're looking at colleges across the country?" Paul demanded less gently. Jacob, appalled, slapped Paul on the back of the head. "Ouch!" Paul protested. I turned my eyes up to the inquisitive boys before me, pushed my plate away, and snatched the brochure from Paul's hand. I ripped it violently into pieces as I stormed across the kitchen to the trash can and threw it away. The sink became my solace as I braced by arms on either side of it; Paul and Jacob had fallen silent again.

"Seth doesn't know a lot of things," I whispered hoarsely to the wall.

A warm hand was on my back, between my shoulder blades before I knew it. Beneath my shirt, my skin itched and twitched; alive with the secrets I had buried. It took everything in me not to blurt out something right then to the two wolves behind me.

"Does this have anything to do with that guy?" Paul asked me softly. I stiffened beneath Paul's comforting touch-or at least the touch that was meant to be comforting. He pulled his hand back tentatively.

"Leah let something slip when we were patrolling together. I…she didn't mean to say anything."

"No, I realize that," I mumbled as I fought back tears. It seemed as though I wasn't in control of anything anymore; everything was falling apart and crashing down around me. My brother was hooked on weed and sitting in jail, my boyfriend didn't have a clue about my ex or my psychotic mother, my boyfriend's sister that was my good friend had accidently spilled the beans to other friends while in wolf form, and I had the big newborn vampire attack that was coming up to worry about.

"Summer, Seth loves you. Did you know that?" Paul asked me quietly. He was shifting from foot to foot nervously; his eyes flickered between me, the door, Jacob, and the cabinet just behind my head. A tear welled in my eye and slipped down my cheek. I nodded. "Aw, man, don't cry!" he protested. Before I could protest that _no I wasn't crying, there was something like a twig or a branch in my eye_, I was wrapped in Paul's arms and he was trying desperately to comfort me, though…I hated to admit, he was terrible at it.

"-and you know, you and Seth won't fight, because he wouldn't be able to fight with you. Not physically, of course, Seth would never hit you! But if he did, you could tell me or Jake, or even Leah, and we'd get him for you good. But Seth wouldn't fight with you with words either because you mean too much to him. I don't think he would care about that creep boyfriend that cheated on you. It was a long time ago anyway, right? And you like Seth, I know you like Seth…" Paul's babbling continued until Jacob managed to peel him off of me.

"Look, Summer, what Paul has been trying to say is that Seth won't be mad at you for not telling him, but he'll be hurt when Leah slips and the rest of us know before him. You should talk to him as soon as you're ready," Jacob explained to me as he held the part of my arms just under my shoulders. I nodded mutely. "I've gotta run and make a circuit. I'll be back in a little while. Why don't you and Paul watch a movie or something?"

Jacob escaped the tension-filled kitchen through the back door and Paul and I headed into the living room.

We had quite the time deciding on a movie. Paul outright refused _The Prince and Me_ on ABC Family, so we went through my DVD collection instead. Paul fought me on every romantic movie I brought up, claiming that yes, he had seen _The Notebook_ and _Titanic_, and no, he was not watching them, thank you very much. He deemed me too emotional already to sit through _Dear John_ or _P.S. I Love You_, so we moved on to action movies. Despite Paul's best efforts, I refused to watch _Transformers_.

We settled on _Black Swan_ after thirty minutes of negotiations.

Midway through the movie, Jacob walked in through the back door, though to me, it sounded as though he stormed in. I jumped a foot off the sofa and stood nervously for a second before he came around the corner and looked at me like I was crazy. Paul howled in laughter.

"You're scared of this little ballet movie?" he guffawed. "_Honestly_?"

I swatted his head lightly; my hand ached from the effort of taming him. Paul's laughter died down into chuckles, and he smiled and patted the spot next to him on the sofa.

"Here, Sum, I'll protect you from the scary dancers," he offered with a tiny smirk. Despite his sarcasm, I sank onto the sofa beside him, surprising him as I curled up against his side. He coughed once uncomfortably before relaxing as I grabbed hold of his bicep and cradled his arm in my lap as if it were a stuffed animal or fluffy blanket. Jacob threw himself down on my other side and I sat between the two wolves, eventually drawing my knees up to my chest as the movie progressed. Jacob and Paul laughed at the gore while I winced, they laughed harder at my expressions. They apparently took delight in my fear…_great_.

After _Black Swan_ we watched one other scary movie that I knew would demand Seth's presence at night for weeks. _House of Wax_ was the bane of my existence, and I hated that I even owned a copy of it. Midway through the movie, my nails were digging into Paul and Jacob's forearms. Three-fourths through the movie, I was half-hiding behind Paul's shoulder with my legs curled behind Jacob's warm back. At the very end, I had managed to worm my way into Paul's arms, in his lap, with Jacob's hands clutching mine. As the credits rolled, Jacob and Paul laughed hysterically at the position I was in; my blank eyes hadn't moved from the screen.

When Jacob left for patrol, we went shopping in the supermarket, just Paul, me, frozen foods, and produce. By the time my car was loaded up with my purchases, Paul was groaning about "running on empty," it was nearly four o'clock, and I had five missed calls from the Forks Police Department on my charging iPhone.

I called the police station back, and Charlie told me that Colton was ready to be released into my custody. I drove over with Paul. When we arrived, Bella's father, who I had only met in passing before and over the phone, greeted us and shook my hand.

"Summer," he acknowledged me. He looked at Paul. "You must be one of Jacob's friends…right?"

"Yes, sir, I'm Paul," Paul told him, shaking his hand respectfully. Charlie glanced at his hand in slight surprise, probably from Paul's heat, but turned back to me.

"I hope you don't mind, we waited for him to uh, 'sober up'…is that what the kids call it these days? Anyway, he's clean, and we put him through a two hour special feature on drug abuse. We haven't had use for the DVD yet, and I think he took it okay."

"Thanks so much, Chief Swan," I told him gratefully as we followed him inside and to the holding center.

"I told you, Summer, it's Charlie for you. Your brother, however…" he trailed off and threw a mischievous smile at me from over his shoulder. "Let's just say I scared him pretty good. I don't think you'll have any more problems with him."

I smiled at Bella's dad and he unlocked a door and gestured for Colton to come out. An officer handed Colton his bookbag, and Colton looked at me with wide eyes. He didn't seem to be expecting me.

"Well hello to you, too, _little brother_," I said pleasantly. I noticed, from the corner of my eye that Paul bit back a grin at my tone.

"Hi, Sum," Colton said softly. His eyes were downcast, his defiant spirit broken for the time being. I hated his defiant spirit-it reminded me too much of myself at his age and all the trouble he could get into. I didn't want him anywhere near the things Tyler and I had done. Colton was so much better than that-so much better than _me_.

I thanked Charlie again, led Colton outside, and drove with Paul in the front and him in the back. When we got to the house, Paul grabbed most of the groceries, Colton grabbed a few bags, and I only had one to carry. I unpacked and stocked the fridge and pantry with food and started dinner. Paul sat in the living room while Colton sat at the kitchen table and watched me move around the kitchen. I felt my brother's eyes on me as I prepared a huge pot of spaghetti and meatballs. When I covered the sauce to let it simmer and cook, Colton finally spoke.

"Summer? Will you please sit with me a minute?" Colton asked timidly.

I hadn't wanted my brother to give me attitude, but his change in demeanor was dramatic. Gone was the sarcasm, the biting coldness, the harshness from his voice. With its absence, I realized just how long it had been since he had spoken without it-almost since before we had moved to Forks. Whatever attitude or problems or insecurities he had been dealing with, he had been going through them for quite some time. I didn't like that he had been ugly, but I hadn't paid enough attention to him. A huge part of his drug use was probably my fault, and I couldn't feel any guiltier.

I sat across the table from Colton and waited for him to speak. His tone was sad and apologetic.

"I realize that I shouldn't have smoked. I get that-I remember mom and dad being pissed with you for doing it. I'm sorry that I did, because I remember how upset you were with yourself. I remember everything you did, Summer, and I know you don't want me to do any of that stuff. But Toby had it, and I wanted to feel better, and I should have gone about that in a different way, but I didn't and I'm sorry. Chief Swan showed me this really terrible video, and I…I don't want to end up like that, Sum. Can I come home? Officially, I mean."

Colton's jade green eyes were wide and earnest; I couldn't detect a lick of sarcasm or deceit anywhere in his confession and apology. I grudgingly accepted.

"Yes, but we have new rules," I decided. Colton nodded feverishly in understanding.

"Whatever you say, Sum. You were right: you're not mom, but you're all I have left, and I need to respect you. I've never told you how grateful I am to have a safe house to live in and food to eat. I'm sorry."

I smiled a very tiny, small smile at my brother.

"That's okay," I decided. The smile slipped off of my face. "Rule number one: no drugs or alcohol for anyone under the age of seventeen. You hit seventeen, we'll talk."

Colton made a face but nodded in agreement.

"Rule number two: no hanging out with Toby. At all. Ever. Find new friends," I stated firmly. Colton nodded. "Rule number three: you try yelling and fighting with me like that again, or you do drugs of any kind, or you…just don't follow the rules, you're out. You will be kicked out first and asked questions later, got it, mister?"

"Got it, Sum," he agreed with a smile. I smiled back and rolled my eyes.

"Go watch TV with Paul or something. I need to stir the pot before it sticks to the bottom."

And just like that, Colton had moved back in to our safehouse on 1500 West Maple Street.

**Hopefully in the next couple of chapters, the newborns will attack and more of Summer's secrets will come out. Does anyone have any ideas on what she's hiding from Seth and the other wolves? I'd like to hear theories :)**


	15. Nightmare and Musings

**This chapter starts with Summer's POV, and then picks up with Seth at the division. Thanks to all my reviewers, you are all beautiful!**

_Wax. People. Melting. Triplets…brothers. Little brothers. Drugs. Unhappiness. Parents. Death. Secrets, lies, wolves, vampires…_

I woke up a cold sweat, my head spinning as I sat up violently. The bed sank beside me; I was curled up on Seth's side of the bed, my face buried in his pillow to catch traces of his warm, familiar scent. A warm hand touched my arm, burning away the coldness from my body. Strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me into a broad lap to sit in. Seth's voice touched my ears, the finest music in the world to my confused, fuzzy senses.

"Hey, did you have a bad dream?" he murmured softly. I clutched at his chest, and, finding it bare, latched my hand on the curve between his neck and shoulder instead.

"Seth…melt…drugs…wax…" I babbled. Seth's deep laugh shook me in his arms and I felt him bury his face in my messy, wild hair.

"Yeah, baby, I missed you too."

"Mmm," I hummed quietly. Seth helped me scoot back under the covers; it was difficult for him because I refused to unlatch myself from his body. I snuggled as close as I could get and drifted back to sleep.

* * *

Another training session with Jake and the Cullens had passed, and I thought about Summer through nearly the whole practice. Leah complained that she couldn't focus on the moves with only half of my attention on the fighting, but I couldn't will myself to focus on the golden-eyed vampires. My mind was miles away in Forks, with my beautiful, probably sleeping, imprint.

Summer curled up into my arms, desperately scratching at my chest and arms in her sleep, trying to get closer to me. Her side and back were completely pressed against my body while my arms were wrapped around her tightly and resting on her hip. Still, she struggled to get closer, and I couldn't blame her; I had been away for far too long. Paul and Jake were good at looking after her, even if they did scare her to death and back with horror movies, but I couldn't help but worry when I wasn't around her. Summer had become my entire world in less than three months. Even my mother, sister, and pack paled in comparison. I could not survive without my Summer.

The next morning, Summer woke up with a headache and a death wish on Paul and Jacob. She blamed them for her "creeptastic nightmares," demanded I give them both a slap or punch from her, and banned them from watching horror movies with her ever again.

Colton was back, and apologized to me for his actions while I was cooking breakfast for Summer. She walked into the kitchen in her pajamas and bunny slippers, walked up behind me where I was cooking on the stove, and slipped her arms around my waist as she leaned against my back. Her warm little body pressed against mine made me smile at nothing in particular, and she just cuddled into me until her breakfast was ready to eat.

Summer ate standing up while Colton cleaned the living room with the TV on Summer's favorite episode of _Friends_. After she finished eating, she left her plate in the sink, got dressed, and started what looked like homework. Despite it being the first day of spring break, Summer was all work and no play.

I was content to watch her study away on her bed. She was sprawled across the messily made mattress, feet kicked into the air with ankles crossed, her purple-painted toenails occasionally winked at me when she swung her feet lightly. Her hands, delicate and pale compared to my huge, dark ones, idly flipped pages and took extensive notes on looseleaf. Her fingernails were painted a bright pink, something that she called salmon, though I didn't understand how a color could be a fish name. Her ring fingers had a coat of gold sparkles on them.

The guys laughed at me constantly for knowing these little things, but it was widely known that I had the girliest of the imprints. Emily and Kim were girly, sure, but they were still very tribal and what Summer's magazines called 'earthy' or 'boho chic'. Claire was too little to yet be deemed girly or not; she was somewhere in the middle. So, Paul and Jake especially enjoyed teasing me on my knowledge of girl things, but I had caught Jacob's wandering thoughts after he had read Summer's _Seventeen_, so I had ammunition for another time.

Summer's phone rang, and she answered it cautiously. It turned out to be the little female vampire, Alice, looking for Jacob or Sam, or me.

"Seth, I wanted to let you know that the attack was moved up-they're not coming in four days. They'll be here at dawn the day after tomorrow. Jasper suggested we have one more training session and then rest. Can you have the whole pack meet us in the clearing tonight?"

"Um, sure. We might not all be able to go, but I'll let them all know. What time?" I asked.

"Two would be good," Alice's high trill informed me. She hung up without a goodbye, and I dialed Sam's number to relay the news to him. He took it well, and promised to inform the others. I was to report to his house at nine that evening for a pack meeting.

Leah, Embry, Collin, and Brady stopped by just after their morning patrol to beg Summer for food. She had grinned good-naturedly and heated the spaghetti she cooked last night. The four of them sat at the kitchen table, devouring the offering. Summer watched on, amused, and I wrapped my arms around her. She turned in my arms and buried her face in my chest for a few long minutes before walking away. Ever since I had gotten back last night, she had been a little skittish. I didn't know if she was still scared from her nightmare or just nervous in general, but her uneasiness put me on edge. The imprint surged forward like a wave, urging me and pushing me to brighten her mood.

We watched _Friends_ all afternoon. Normally, the show would have her giggling into her right hand or holding her belly as she laughed loudly, but I was met with near silence. She smiled faintly, but even Joey's antics couldn't bring a true smile to her pretty face.

"What's wrong, Sum?" I asked her softly. She was sitting precisely six inches away from me on the sofa, a distance that she never suggested or enforced. I was surprised by the strange form of distance. Summer hated distance.

"Nothing," she lied in a flat voice. I could take a hint, though; she definitely didn't want to talk about whatever it was. Instead of pushing her, I lounged on the sofa, offering her plenty of physical as well as emotional space, and waited for her to need me. When she did, I would know, and I comforted myself with that knowledge.

We had been watching _Friends_ for almost four straight hours when she scooted closer, sighed, and pressed herself in the space beneath my arm. I didn't say anything as she smiled softly at the show occasionally. She was at least somewhat back to normal.

Colton, Collin, and Brady hung out for a long time in the backyard, playing soccer and football. Although Collin and Brady were wolves, it was clear that Colton had little difficulty keeping up with them. He seemed to have grown in his absence from Summer's house, not just for the night and most of the day he was at the police station, but for the weeks he had been with Toby. Thoughts swirled in my head on drugs and whether or not they could cause growth spurts. I didn't know Colton and Summer's parents, but Summer wasn't very tall, and Colton just couldn't seem to stop growing. The nagging suspicion of the pack mind was always present when examining tribe members, searching for the unlucky boy-or girl-who could become the next wolf. I didn't think Summer and Colton had Quileute blood in them, but even the most tenuous bloodlines could pick up with the exposure to vampires. Colton's growth spurt haunted me.

It was only later, after I had made sure Summer had a cup of tea and her computer to watch DVDs in her bedroom, and I was running as a wolf to the practice field with Paul, Jacob, Embry, Quil, and Leah, that my thoughts were pulled up again for my packmates to read.

_She's the only non-Native American imprint so far,_ Embry thought.

_Not that that's strange, Seth. Just different, _Quil piped up at my defensive growl.

_Her mom is from Virginia,_ Leah supplied helpfully. I felt the shock in my mind with a hint of betrayal, and Leah explained. _We talk, Seth. There are some things she just isn't ready to tell you yet. Don't push her._

_She'll talk to you when she's ready,_ Paul added. A flash of something-a brochure, a kitchen table-lit Paul's mind. Another growl reverberated in the space around us, and I fought snapping my jaws at Paul's ankles. _It was on the kitchen table! She threw it away! Calm down, kid!_

Paul's patience was wearing thin as we neared the clearing and the scent of vampires increased. The smell was enough to put us all on edge, but Paul especially with his violent temper.

_Hey, I heard that!_ Paul reminded me with a low growl. I snapped my jaws in response.

_Quit it, you two,_ Jake ordered. We backed off, and Quil and Embry took Jacob's flanks. Leah and I were on the right with Embry and Paul was on the left with Quil. We stepped out into the clearing to watch. Jared, Collin, and Brady were running patrols; Sam was on the other side of the clearing field, watching from a different angle.

"Well, thank you for being so patient with us. We're very confident that this truce is going to work out and give us the advantage in battle," Carlisle announced at the end of their session. His gaze hovered between Sam and our group. "We truly appreciate this."

By the time Carlisle and Sam were done communicating, it was past five in the morning. My patrol started at five thirty, and despite my excruciating desire to see Summer before she went to school, it wouldn't be practical to go to her house for the five minutes I would have before patrol.

_I'll check on her; give you peace of mind,_ Leah decided as she began to run towards Summer's house in Forks. My run to the northern border of our territory perked up considerably. Leah snorted. _Don't get used to favors like this, brother, _Leah informed me as she phased out.


	16. The Battle and the Injured

**This is by far the most intense chapter I have written, and I truly, truly enjoyed it. It is entirely in Summer's POV, and takes place during the battle and just after. I really hope everyone considers reviewing this chapter to say if you liked it or not or to tell me your theories (I'm sure someone will be right at this point or at least really close)**

After Seth left, I was completely miserable.

The horror movies continued their battle on my mind. While I was completely exhausted, I was terrified to move even an inch from the spot Seth had settled me in. My rated-G DVDs did nothing but add to the anxious knot at the base of my spine and make me jump at any noise Colton made turning over in his bed in the room next to mine. When I finally pushed my laptop and movies aside and fell into fitful sleep, I had horrible nightmares of my wolves failing in the fight against the newborns.

In my dreams, Seth didn't star center-stage as I expected him to. Instead, Jacob, Paul, and Leah haunted me by sustaining life-threatening injuries. While I actively realized that I was in a nightmare, the panicked, feverish part of me insisted that I needed to help them in any way possible.

I woke up to bright (for dreary Forks) light streaming through my bedroom window. Cold sweat coated my face and chest, my covers felt too warm, and I could tell by the way the sun was facing that Colton and I were already late for school. As I rushed through the motions of my morning routine, I dismally noted the severe bags under my eyes, which were a pale shade of lavender.

Colton was only just waking up when Leah let herself in through the back door and scared me senseless. She laughed at my shocked face and brandished hot curling iron before smirking and waiting for me to return to a normal state. When I somewhat recovered from surprise, Leah plopped onto the toilet seat of the bathroom and watched me as I rushed through curling the ends of my hair and brushing my teeth. After I had attempted and failed to cover the bags under my eyes, I moved on to pulling clothes on in a hurry, not even bothering to notice if they matched.

I left Leah to drop Colton off and then hurried to my third period class. At lunch, Alice offered me a sympathetic smile and explained that everything was going to be fine; even with Edward and Seth sitting out, they had more than enough fighters to defeat the newborns.

After the longest half-day of school in my life, I picked Colton up and headed to the reservation to honor Sam's request that the imprints stay on the reservation with either Emily or an elder. I had elected to spend the evening, night, and following day at Billy Black's; I didn't want to burden Emily with two extra people.

Seth stopped by at ten in the evening with Jacob and Paul to see me before I went to sleep in Jacob's sisters' old room with Colton. The two twin beds were soft and gently worn, and felt homey. Seth curled up with me in one while Paul and Jacob sprawled on the other, hanging off the edge. The three of them assured me that they would be careful and return in one piece. My worry for them increased when they trotted off into the forest. From the bedroom window, they looked like young boys running off to play in the forest.

* * *

It was three in the afternoon the next day when I felt a tightening in my chest. Goosebumps erupted across my arms, legs, and even skull. Small tremors shook my hands, and my feet were cold. Colton's attempts to distract me with UNO and Scrabble were pitiful; even he was occupied with thoughts on the battle. Only half an hour after the goosebumps had started, howls and screams drifted through Billy's open windows, alerting us of an injured wolf. From the sound of the pain-filled cries, the injury was horrible.

Jacob was carried in on a makeshift-werewolf stretcher. He was naked as the day he was born, carried by his pack brothers, Leah trailing behind them, eyes wide with worry and disbelief. Billy didn't hesitate in calling Sue over. Colton was at my elbow immediately, sensing my urgency like only a brother could.

"Sum," he said softly as they gently laid Jacob on the floor over towels. Sam threw one over his privates. Jacob's howling/screaming mixture brought tears to my eyes. My hands involuntarily reached forward, fingers twitching. Colton's hands stopped mine, steadying them as he forced me to look into his eyes. "Are you sure, Summer?"

My eyes strayed from Colton's green ones to Jacob's, which were screwed up in pain. Something in his face, a childlike innocence or a wilting tenderness, pulled me in and called to the urges inside of me. My blood drew me to his pain like a moth to flame, and I couldn't control my feet shuffling forward. If anyone was surprised by my behavior, I didn't see or feel it. My eyes were only for Jacob.

"Let me go, Colt," I whispered. Seth was at my side, murmuring the story of how Jacob had gotten hurt, but I had already tuned him out. Colton stood at my right elbow, waiting to assist. My fingers, merely twitching before, were outright shaking at the moment. Colton's eyes followed me, glued to my back, as I crossed the room tentatively on tip-toe to kneel at Jacob's writhing side.

Warmth shot into my palms, called forth by my need to help, to soothe, to heal. I felt the warmth spread up my arms, across my back, and down my spine. With the warmth, I felt a tingling along my spine and the base of my neck. I ignored the tingling sensation for the moment, however, and focused on the warmth cascading gently across my body. My attention focused on my palms, and they began to heat accordingly. A slight sheen of sweat came over them; a similar sheen of sweat erupted across my brow and on the back of my neck.

Tenderly, I pressed my warm, sweaty hands to Jacob's injured chest. He writhed in pain, but I pressed harder, feeling the warm in my palms extending over him. A shimmer in the corner of my eye brought the light into focus. A gold shimmer spread from my palms, following the warmth that scattered across Jacob's chest, stomach, arms legs, face, and entire body. Ancient words, unbidden, fell from my lips, moving the shimmering light faster across the injured boy in front of me.

When the words stopped, the shimmering light disappeared. Jacob was still, his eyes were closed, and his breathing was deep and even, like he was sleeping. My hands shook violently as I removed them from his chest; tears dripped from my eyes onto his hot skin, and I saw small splashes of red appear next to the drops of water. I realized belatedly that my nose was bleeding.

"Summer," a voice said soothingly, calling me back to where I should be. "Come back, Summer. Jacob's okay now. You did a really good job."

The deepness of the voice startled me; Colton's hand on my shoulder was larger than I remembered it being. My little brother had grown and I hadn't really noticed.

Another set of hands helped Colton bring me to my feet. Knees wobbling like a toddler learning to walk, I collapsed backwards onto the Blacks' sofa and into someone's arms.


	17. Summer's Secret

**I hope everyone is excited for the big reveal! More details will come as the story progresses, so don't be too sure of anything yet! And remember...Summer's mother is still lurking...anyone think she'll turn up soon? On a side note that is relevant, this chapter is entirely Seth's POV. Review with your opinions...I'm dying to know what you all think!**

Summer collapsed into my arms and her green eyes shut immediately. Two feet away, Colton let out a heavy sigh. I tore my eyes away from Summer long enough to glance at him, confused. Colton looked at me for a long moment before stiffening as Embry leaned over to wake up Jake.

"I wouldn't do that," Colton warned him. He slowly turned to face Embry and Quil. "He shouldn't be touched until after Summer wakes up and looks him over. She'll know if he needs anything else. I would just leave him as he is for now."

Embry and Quil reluctantly backed off. Sam stiffened as there was a knock on the door; Dr. Cullen had arrived, as good as his word. Someone let the vampire doctor inside, and he stopped in his tracks as he looked over the scene carefully. He and Colton shared a long, intense look. Dr. Cullen sighed and walked over to me. He gestured to Summer tentatively.

"I'll just look over her now," he explained softly. For a second, I wasn't sure what he was talking about. Then I noticed the blood that had run down her face and onto her chest and shirt. I nodded feverishly as the doctor settled in beside Summer and me on the sofa and began checking her out. He mumbled questions to Colton that I was sure had to be in a different language. The easy, flowing, musical-lilt didn't sound a thing like English. Colton watched Dr. Cullen's movements shrewdly-not one thing went by that he didn't follow with a question. I was glad about that; someone could watch over her safety when it was obvious I was blatantly lacking in ability.

"What's going on?" Leah finally demanded as Dr. Cullen cleaned Summer's nose. Colton pressed a clean tissue there and instructed me to apply continuous pressure. Her nose was still bleeding, though the flow had slowed dramatically.

Colton and the doctor exchanged a long look, full of hidden conversation. The vampire looked at Jacob's still form for long moment before looking to Sam.

"I think that Colton has something he would like to explain now. If it's alright, I'll be back in two hours to check on Summer and Jacob." Sam nodded his agreement at the request, and we all waited until the doctor had shut the front door behind him before we looked at Colton.

If Colton was perturbed by nine upset werewolves staring him down, he held his calm remarkably well. He looked up at me, simply, and began softly.

"What has Summer told you about our family?" he asked.

My mind went blank.

"Not much," I admitted honestly, embarrassed by my lack of information. Colton's pale green eyes, so similar to Summer's, stared back at me patiently. He wasn't judging me; he knew how much Summer disliked talking about their lives before they moved to Forks. "Your father is dead and your mom is around, but not around to take care of you. You're from Virginia."

Colton offered a small sigh in response to my answer. His eyes roamed over the group of us wolves, settling finally on Jacob's still body.

"Summer is…different."

"Really? We hadn't noticed," Paul retorted softly in a sarcastic voice. Colton's eyes narrowed, but he didn't answer or acknowledge Paul.

"My sister is special. She has the ability to do things beyond what doctors, science, and medicine can do. She's more than just a healer, though. Summer is a witch," Colton stated in the silent Black living room.

I felt my jaw drop and I looked down at the sleeping girl in my arms. Now that I knew, everything seemed to fall into place; the way she never spoke of her family, not even with me. The secretive life she and Colton had to live. Their wandering nature, her crappy job, her general strangeness that I truly loved and embraced…my girlfriend-my _imprint_-was a witch. She was just as much a part of the supernatural as I was. Despite the hurt that she hadn't told me earlier, I felt our bond growing stronger. We had way more in common than favorite TV shows and movies.

As if on cue, Summer gasped and lurched forward in my arms. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot, her face pale. She gazed around for a long moment; all of us followed Colton's lead and remained absolutely still. Our behavior reminded me eerily of a human's reaction around a startled, frightened animal. Slowly, Summer came back to herself. When her eyes rested on Colton, she stood up carefully and rubbed her temples.

"What happened?" she asked softly.

"You healed Jacob," he answered easily. There was something in his voice though, a lingering tenderness that I had never heard from him before. It was sweet. Summer stumbled over to him and he hugged her firmly. "You're okay, Sum," he said softly, rubbing her arms as he pushed her at arm's length. "Is Jacob okay? He's knocked out."

"Has anyone touched him?" she asked, glancing around at our faces, searching for answers. Her eyes briefly landed on mine, longing in them, but she turned back around to face Colton. She had work to do; I could respect that.

"No," Colton answered her. She dropped to Jacob's side and peered at him carefully, her neck making small movements as she looked at Jacob's face from different angles.

"He had twenty broken bones," Summer pronounced carefully into the living room. I didn't recognize her tone, or who she seemed to be talking to. Colton assumed the role of the person immediately.

"What else needs to be done? What do you need?" he asked mechanically as he knelt at her side, his eyes focused on her. I could see her eyes widen as she stared at Jacob's face. They were bright, happy even. This healing, this magic…brought her happiness.

"Nothing. He's fine. We just have to wait for him to wake up," she told Colton softly. She leaned over and tenderly brushed Jacob's cheek with her fingertips. He stirred beneath her touch, his arms slid across the carpet and his fingers twitched experimentally. I noticed his feet kick a little and a groan spill from his parted lips. "Jacob?" Summer called quietly. "Wake up," she commanded softly.

At Summer's command, demand, request, what have you, Jacob's eyes opened and he sat up from the floor. He looked at her, wide-eyed, and she returned his stare with a smile. Her smile faded into a worried look that pinched her eyebrows together.

"How are you feeling?" she asked. "Does anything hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. Did you…you healed me," he stated firmly. His tone wasn't bewildered, it was matter-of-fact. "I could have healed myself."

"The bones were already setting. Dr. Cullen would have had to re-break them," Summer explained as she helped Jacob sit up fully on the floor. "Consider me the pain-free alternative method," she joked. Jake chuckled. He quickly grew quiet and looked around the room. Leah, Paul, Collin, and Brady were tense in the corner. Billy sat with Sue and Jared by the kitchen. Sam stood beside the sofa where I was with Quil. Embry hovered behind Colton and Summer.

"So…you're a witch," Sam said in the tense silence. Summer's eyes snapped up to his face immediately. Her chin raised defiantly, her features set firmly. Her posture was strong, and I was sure that the determined look in her eyes was aimed directly at Sam.

"Yes," she confirmed to him quietly.


	18. The Confrontation

**Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews! Special shout-outs to my continued reviewers, WhiteDusk8888, Lalina92, and XxJustaWriterxX. You guys are awesome!**

**This chapter is Summer's POV...**

Now they knew. The whole pack knew my deepest, darkest, most guarded secret.

For the most part, they seemed to be taking it remarkably well. After Sam's question and my confirmation, Seth's eyes hadn't left my face, Sue and Billy started murmuring together in the corner, and Sam started dealing out orders for shifts and patrols. He called Emily over, and she and Kim arrived within fifteen minutes of his call. Jacob hadn't left my side yet, and Seth kept looking at me and waiting. I wasn't entirely sure what he was waiting for, but he didn't move from his seat on the sofa.

Emily and Kim cooked in the kitchen while Sue and Billy watched from the dining room set. Sam and Paul helped Jacob to his feet and guided him to the sofa to sit between Seth and Quil. Colton helped me to my feet, for once a gentleman and a grown-up in the situation. He had handled everything like an adult, and that realization was shocking.

"You need to talk to him," Colton whispered in my ear. He didn't have to tell me who he meant; Seth's unbroken stare was enough.

"Look at you being responsible," I remarked with a smile. I knew that avoiding the subject wouldn't make Colton forget; he was much too smart for those tricks.

"Well thanks. Now you need to go be responsible and talk to your boyfriend," Colton told me in a low voice. Despite the guys looking away politely, I knew they were straining to hear Colton's whispers. I pitched my voice low as well.

"I don't know what to say," I explained, panicked. "What if he hates me? What if he leaves me?"

Colton rolled his eyes and sighed, exasperated with me.

"Summer, I think you've forgotten that Seth imprinted on you. He could not leave if he tried. He will never hate you, no matter what. You need to show him the same respect he's shown you and explain."

I looked at Colton, shocked at his behavior and words. He had never been so profound or _clear_ before. When had my brother grown up?

"I…what do I _say_?" I persisted. Colton had walked me over to the opposite corner in the living room. Sam had turned on the TV to diffuse the hushed conversation Colt and I were having. He seemed to understand that I didn't want to be overheard.

"Well, he already knows. Just tell him what you can do. I don't know, don't bring me into your relationship drama!" Colton shifted, uncomfortable. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets; his face had pinched up with his discomfort. It looked like his profound moment was over. "Ask if he has any questions, start there…"

"What about…mom?" I hedged tentatively. Colt's face quickly drooped into a neutral frown.

"Sum, that's your call. You're the one…you know what? I'm hungry. I'm going to see what Emily made," Colton decided abruptly. I looked over to where his eyes had stopped. He passed behind me as Seth stood from the sofa and started over to me.

"Seth!" Jacob looked like he was protesting the oncoming conversation. Or fight. Or discussion. Or breakup. I really hated confrontations of any kind. I got that from my father.

Seth stopped in front of me, his face stormy with emotions. Sweat trickled down my spine from my nerves. My palms felt cold, and I was sure that I wasn't lightheaded from the spell. Seth was really scaring me.

"Summer, are you okay?" Seth asked. His voice was soft, and not at all what I was expecting. I shook my head, and he took me into his arms. "What's wrong, baby?" he asked me. That familiar nickname finally made me realize that this was _Seth_ and I had no idea how he was reacting to all of this: he immediately pushed his feelings to the side to ask me if _I_ was okay. And that was _not_ okay.

"No," I said, trying to push his arms off. For a second, he didn't budge. Then he realized what I was trying to do. I felt tears stinging in my eyes. My day had been long enough, and now we were adding all of these revelations and confessions to the mix. I really needed a nap. "You just stop feeling what you're feeling and worry about _me_? Of course I'm not okay! I just healed your packmate and _everyone _knows I'm a witch! I've been keeping this secret from you for _months_ and you just start worrying about _me_!? What are _you _feeling right now!?"

I huffed from my explosion, and my breath came in raspy pants. Seth stood in front of me, his eyes wide and mouth slightly open in surprise. I had never yelled at him this way before, but he had never looked at me quite that way before. I was scared and tired and a little hungry and I did not want to be having this conversation.

"Why don't you take a walk down to the beach, Sum?" Colt suggested from the kitchen. It took me a minute to realize that the house had fallen completely silent, and someone had even muted the TV.

"I…" I hesitated. The beach sounded better than this tiny house packed with too many bodies, but I didn't want to have this conversation at the beach or anywhere else.

"Let me just take you home," Seth suggested. He could sense my fatigue. "You're tired." His hand touched my arm, and the heat from his fingers gave me a shot of adrenaline.

"No, I'm okay," I said defensively. I waved towards the door. "We can go for a walk."

Seth let me lead the way not to the beach, but into the deep darkness of the calming forest. Night had fallen and the forest had turned silver with the light of the full moon. Somewhere in the mountains, a wolf howled. When we had gone far enough into the forest for me to feel the calm peace, I turned to Seth and waited for questions. He took his time before he started the first one tentatively.

"Were you born a witch, like always? Or did you hit a certain age like me and then, boom…magic?" Seth asked softly. He plopped down on the forest floor but I remained standing, too uncomfortable with the situation to sit just yet.

"The magic has always been there, and I've been trained since I was a baby to control it, but I didn't really start training and practicing until I was about thirteen." Seth nodded thoughtfully and was quiet. While he brooded over my answer, I found a spot on the ground that wasn't as wet as the rest and folded my legs and sat. We were about two feet apart, which was far for us. Neither of us tended to like distance, and not touching was killing him, I could see. It was only slightly easier for me, not touching him.

"Your family…" Seth trailed off. I understood that he didn't know how to phrase what he wanted to ask.

"My mom's side is where the witch gene comes from. It's been passed down for generations. We can trace our family back to the Old World on both sides-both of my great-grandmothers were powerful witches."

"So your mom…"

"She was a witch, yes."

"And your dad…"

"No."

"And Colton…"

I had to laugh at that. "Absolutely not," I chuckled. Seth's lips turned up in response to my laughs and he sighed softly.

"See, this isn't so bad," he said quietly. I shrugged.

"I don't like talking about it."

"I know."

"I don't like talking about my parents, either."

"I know."

"Or Virginia."

"I know, Sum."

"Then why do you ask these questions? Why don't you ask Colt and get all the answers as quickly as you want? He'd tell you what you want to know and he wouldn't be short with you like I am. Hell knows he would elaborate for you."

"Well, I'm not in a relationship with your brother, Summer," Seth grinned at me. I fought back my smile at that one. "You and me…this is what we have to work on. Just because this is an imprint doesn't mean it's going to be easy. It doesn't mean that I'm going to know everything about you-we have to talk about some things. I know you don't like talking about this stuff, but it's important."

I sighed, and forced my feelings of insecurity, hopelessness, and stubbornness aside. If Seth could push his emotions away for me, then I could do the same for him. This conversation was for him to learn more about me, and I was not going to make it any harder than it needed to be for him.

Tentatively, I began speaking without Seth prompting me.

"My mom grew up in this tiny town in Virginia, and her family was one of the founding families. Colton and I grew up in a mansion and rich in a small town. My mom met my dad on spring break during her senior year. I know he was a few years older than her, and it was a big scandal when he came to town to stay. Months after he arrived, my mom got pregnant with me. My grandmother was this traditional southern homemaker, and insisted on a church wedding, reception on the family property, the whole nine yards."

Seth was watching me, his eyes captivated by my story. I gritted my teeth and pushed on, wanting to see more of that look on his face.

"After I was born, my mom was different. She practiced magic a lot more and my dad entered the military. My mom always said that he was restless, and it made him uncomfortable to be in the same place for long. Being in the navy allowed him to wander and come home to us. She took care of me, and I grew up really happy. Colton came along a few years later."

"I had a best friend. His name was Tyler," I paused here for a minute, remembering the smile and the eyes that had driven me crazy for seventeen years. "Our moms were best friends growing up. I think they kind of expected us to end up together…permanently. That didn't happen, obviously, but we were together for a while. Everything kind of fell apart when Colton and I moved the first time."

"Do you regret it?" Seth whispered. I looked up, confused.

"What?"

"Do you regret leaving him?"

The pain and longing and tenderness in his eyes was enormous. I knew that for as long as I lived, only Seth would be able to look at me with that much emotion. I didn't like the pain lingering in his large dark orbs, and so I smiled.

"No." We were both quiet for a long time. "Because if I wouldn't have left, I wouldn't be with you right now."

"Did you have any other options?" he asked.

"Sure," I said sarcastically. "Tyler was all for throwing me into the dungeon or locking me in the tower, but I said I would rather wander. I guess I'm like my dad in that way."

"A tower and a dungeon?" he asked. I giggled.

"The dungeon is actually real, but Tyler's family calls it the cellar. The tower I just made up."

"Oh, okay. So long as you made up the tower part. You're not his princess, you're mine," Seth said with a grin. His statement was so cheesy, but he knew I loved it. I hadn't realized how close we had gotten from our playful conversation, but suddenly, Seth was inches from my face and the events of the day and how much I had missed him came crashing down on me. I lurched forwards into his arms, knowing that he would catch me, and kissed him with all I had.

**And yes, I know the conversation on being a witch was cut short...I did that on purpose. She'll talk more about it, but not just with Seth.**


	19. The Morning After

**Sorry this chapter took so long. Waiting anxiously for feedback...**

**So proud of my 31 reviews! Thanks in huge part to XxJustaWriterxX, Lalina92, WhiteDusk8888, and my guest reviewers! You guys all rock!**

**One a side note, this chapter offers a little information but is mostly a filler. More action will come up soon, promise!**

The morning after the battle, I woke Summer up early. She was curled up against my side and I could feel her soft skin pressed against mine. Dark circles under her eyes made her look haunted, and I was hoping she was just tired. If I was being completely honest with myself, finding out that my girlfriend was a witch freaked me out. She was my imprint and I loved everything about her, but realizing she was supernatural as well was huge. I didn't blame her for keeping her secret and I wasn't mad at her at all, but I felt like she felt she couldn't trust me, which was worse than feeling angry. I hadn't phased since the battle, so I had no idea how the rest of the pack felt, but Jacob was totally Team Summer.

After we had gotten back from talking and kissing in the forest, Jacob attacked Summer in a huge hug the second she walked through his front door. I watched in amusement as she struggled in his arms. His form completely swallowed hers, and I could only see a pale arm thrashing and a jean-legged shin kick. Summer laughed hysterically, and Jacob only released her after pressing a kiss to her forehead. After his little show, he stalked off to the kitchen where he put away three plates of fried chicken and green beans.

Jacob's behavior wasn't a huge shock to Summer, which I found odd. I knew that she liked everyone in the pack, just as they liked her. I even realized that the guys and Leah were protective of her, since she was an imprint. Paul had developed some strange friendship with Summer that I didn't really get, but Jacob never seemed very close to her…until now.

Summer slowly uncurled herself from my side when I gently shook her. She grabbed clothes and headed to the bathroom to shower and change. When she returned twenty minutes later, she kissed me soundly, brushed out her hair, and grabbed a cup of coffee. Colton had spent the night with Collin and Brady on the reservation, so Summer drove straight over to Sam's place.

When we arrived, Dr. Cullen was waiting there for us. Summer walked in cautiously, having noticed the sleek black car parked next to Bella's shabby pickup. Emily had food on the table, where most of the pack had congregated, my sister, Collin, and Jared were out on patrol, and there was a distinctive crop of blonde hair peeking over the high back of Emily's sofa.

"Sum," Jake said eagerly from the table. "Seth," he waved. Dr. Cullen turned around, and it seemed as though everyone else's eyes snapped over to us.

"Hey Jake," Summer said as she crossed the room to wrap him in a hug. It was awkward, since he was sitting down, but the gesture was definitely caring and warm. Jake responded eagerly with a bright smile. "How are you feeling today?" Summer asked him in a lower voice.

"Hmmm…dandy," he decided with a serious face. "Fantastic." A grin. "Marvelous. On top of the world. Just great. How about you?"

"I'm alright," Summer said off-handedly. Lie. I could tell when she lied immediately; her voice became slightly more tinny, and high, and her face went just a shade pinker, mostly in her cheeks. Most other people wouldn't be able to tell, but I could.

"Summer, could I speak to you, please?" Dr. Cullen asked softly. Summer sighed quietly and nodded. He gestured to the sofa, and Summer sank down uneasily. I went to her side immediately, and noticed that she already had an audience; Paul was on her left, Jacob behind him, and Leah was on my right. Everyone else was tense, listening to the conversation intently. Dr. Cullen opened his medical bag and Bella watched him curiously from across the room, biting her nails anxiously in the process.

"I'm just going to shine this in your eye. Follow the light, okay?" Dr. Cullen told Summer lightly. She did as she was told, blinking rapidly as she did so. Dr. Cullen frowned and clicked his flashlight off. He did a few other check-up like things, all of which Summer responded to with the patience of an exasperated but resigned child. Colton laughed from his seat next to Bella.

After the physical examination, the questions came.

"How long has it been since you last practiced?" Dr. Cullen asked methodically. His pen was poised above his notebook, ready to record Summer's responses.

"Umm…I think it's been a year. Give or take a week," she decided. Dr. Cullen nodded as he jotted down her response.

"And how long has it been since you last bled during a spell?" he continued.

"Four years, give or take," Summer answered softly.

"So it doesn't happen often?"

"No. I'm usually in control."

"When was the last time you did an intense healing spell, like the one you performed last night?"

"I've never done that one before. Last time I healed at all was just before I quit magic. I healed Colton's broken leg so we could both run away."

Dr. Cullen seemed to lose his doctor-energy and come back to the personal part of this examination.

"You had to run away? From what?" Summer was silent, her lips pursed. Her face looked thoughtful, as though she were contemplating if she wanted to answer the question and how to go about doing so.

"Our mother," Colton answered from across the room. Dr. Cullen swiveled to look at him. Colton's dark hair was floppy over his eyes, and I could only see a few slivers of green peeking out, but his stare was directed at the vampire in the room, and his expression was harsh.

No one knew what to say. I knew that things were strained between Summer, Colton, and their mother, but I had never pried or asked much about the situation. It made Summer uncomfortable, and I hated rocking the boat with her, so we tended to mutually avoid the topic.

"Did you realize," Colton began in a hard, chilling voice. "That magic leaves traces? They're just like fingerprints. When Summer does magic, if the right people-the smart people-try, they can track her down? Every time Summer does magic, our mother ends up finding us."

"Colt," Summer said, her voice hard with a warning. I looked anxiously at her, and she actually met my stare with intense, hooded green eyes. Her expression was calm and neutral. "Enough."

Summer's voice signaled the end of the conversation. Dr. Cullen sighed, ran his fingers through his hair, and placed one hand on his hip.

"I…suggest that you take it easy, Summer. Call me if you experience any pain or discomfort, and we'll do a scan if something seems off."

"Sure," she agreed. Lie. Dr. Cullen looked at Summer like he didn't quite believe her, but shook his head, waved to the room and gestured to Bella in particular, and left quickly.

"So…" Emily said in light voice from the kitchen. "Who wants pie?"


	20. Getting Somewhere

**This is the next installment. Kind of short, I know, but it's just to set up for the action that's coming. Thanks for the feedback, and I'm always open to more!**

Bella and Jake left around noon to talk and the rest of us hung around Emily's all day. Summer seemed leery of going back to the house and Colton was having fun alternating between Collin and Brady over the course of the day, so we stayed. Leah and Summer ended up in the kitchen, whispering with Emily about stuff. Paul, Jared, Embry, and I hung out in the living room. The guys were quiet, and I couldn't tell if they were still freaked out over Summer being a witch or not.

"So…where's Kim today, Jared?" Paul asked, breaking the awkward silence between the four of us. Immediately we all relaxed and looked to Jared. He smiled.

"She went up to Olympia with her mom. They're shopping."

"How's Summer been, Seth?" Embry asked quietly. The guys looked to me, curious, but not freaked. I let out a long breath. I guess once you started changing into a huge wolf, you kind of got used to the extraordinary…and the weird.

"She told me a little bit last night, but she's not really talking. She's really anxious."

"She's worried mom is going to find us again," Colton chimed in as he walked in with Collin. The two of them collapsed back onto the armchairs.

"Can you read your sister's mind?" Paul asked sarcastically. He meant to sound sarcastic, but there was a hint of uncertainty in his question that made it come out more as a question. Colton laughed at Paul's question.

"Nope. I've known her since I was born, though, and it's kind of the same thing," he answered.

"What makes your mom so scary?" Embry asked with a half-grin. I leaned forward to balance my forearms on my knees, interested with Colton's answer. He shrugged, pulling a Summer.

"It's hard to describe. You'd get it if you met her."

The five of us wolves gave him doubtful looks, and he held up his hands in surrender.

"Trust me," he said earnestly. He stood and walked towards the kitchen. "Hey Emily, do you have anything to eat?"

"Sure, Colton," Emily answered him in a bright voice.

"Hey." Summer scared me, wrapped in my thoughts as I was, as she came up behind me. She giggled after she saw me jump nearly out of my skin. "Sorry. I was going to run to the house really quick and come back, okay? And I'm picking up some things for Emily at the store, so I think I'll be gone for an hour or so."

"Okay," I breathed. She smiled. "Can I go with you? Do you need help?"

"Nah, I'm okay. I'll be back soon," she said as she kissed my cheek.

The guys stared at me once she had left. I looked back defensively.

"What?"

"Nothing," Paul said. He looked at Jared. "Ready to run?"

"Yep," Jared agreed. They stood to switch off with Sam and Quil.

"We'll be back later, Emily!" they yelled as they ran out the door.

Jacob and Bella walked back into the house. Bella's face was tear-stained and Jacob looked pissed. Bella mumbled goodbyes to Emily and left quickly, sniffling as she did so. Jacob threw himself on the sofa next to me. I waited a minute before looking over at him. He caught my stare and growled.

"What?" he asked defensively. I held my hands up, shook my head, and walked into the kitchen to get food from Emily. I sat at the table across from Colton and he glanced at me briefly before returning his attention to the huge plate in front of him. I watched him curiously; his appetite had definitely spiked lately.

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts of Colton phasing. He wasn't even Quileute.

* * *

It took forever before Summer came back. When I heard the familiar sound of her car pulling up in Emily and Sam's driveway, I had to control myself as I hurried out the door to see her. She smiled faintly at me and popped her trunk. Collin, Sam, and Quil walked out to help unload the groceries and bring them into the house. Summer crooked a finger at me and opened the door to the backseat of her car. There were two large boxes filled to the brim with heavy books.

"You carried these all by yourself?" I asked, peeved. Summer smiled, and my irritation melted away.

"No. I ran into Edward on the street, and he helped me get them out of the house and into the car."

"Oh," I said easily, relieved. I liked Edward Cullen-he was cool for a vampire. The fact that he had helped my imprint carry heavy boxes increased my positive attitude towards him. I scooped up the two boxes and brought them into the house. I hesitated at the door, unsure where Summer wanted me to set them down.

"Just put them in the living room," Summer told me. I headed there, and settled the heavy boxes on the coffee table. Colton looked at them and scowled. I wondered what the books could possibly be filled with to make Colton scowl like that.

"What is all this stuff?" I asked as Summer walked into the room behind me. Leah and Emily hung back, curious and observing. Summer's face twisted slowly into a self-deprecating smile.

"This is everything," she announced with a huff. "You wanted to know more about me. We'll start at the beginning."


	21. Photos and Memories

**Sorry that this one is short, as well, but it is a same-day update :)**

**Super-thanks to WhiteDusk8888, and thanks to everyone who faves and follows my story! You are all so great!**

"So, this is my mom," Summer explained, pointing at a picture. We were cuddled together on Emily and Sam's loveseat. Summer had her legs tucked up underneath her with the huge photo album spread across both of our laps. Leah sat on Summer's other side, Emily, Jacob, and Colton hovered over us behind the loveseat.

I turned my attention to the photo Summer had pointed at. A young woman stood leaning against a lamppost, obviously in a park, surrounded by green space. She was looking right at the camera, and her eyes were like Summer and Colton's-that same shade of pale green. Her hair was like a blonde halo around her, curly and slightly wild with the sun just behind her, illuminating her from behind. She was very pretty, with a slender nose, pink lips and cheeks, and long eyelashes. I could definitely see the resemblance between her and Summer. They even had the same figure-petite and curvy, but more curvy than slender.

"She modeled for one of her friends; he was a photographer trying to get into a competitive program."

"Did he get in?" Emily asked absently.

"Uh-huh," Summer nodded. She flipped the page, to where Summer's mother was at the same park, this time sitting down with another woman. They were on a park bench, arms wrapped around each other. The other woman had light brown hair, bangs, and big blue eyes. "That's my aunt Carol."

"She's not blood," Colton piped up. "But she's as good as." Summer nodded fiercely in agreement.

"She's Tyler's mom," Summer explained. She tapped another picture lightly, drawing my attention. "This is-was-her husband. He wasn't as nice as Carol, but he was okay."

"Why wasn't he nice?" Leah asked.

"He liked to knock Tyler around. He had really bad anger issues."

"Are they divorced?" Emily asked.

"He's dead," Summer answered flatly. Her voice brightened as she flipped the page. "This is my grandma."

"She was the best," Colton added. Summer nodded in agreement. The older woman on the page didn't look much older than sixty, with graying hair and a wide smile. Her eyes were the mysterious shade of pale green, but her tan skin pushed me to believe she was mixed racially.

"Grandma was one-fourth Cherokee," Summer explained. Weird…it was like she had read my mind or something, like Edward could do. "Sorry," Summer apologized. I looked at her, confused, and she bit back a grin as she tapped her temple lightly. "I wasn't trying to…it just…happened."

Mind-reader. So, Colton couldn't read Summer's mind, but she could read…mine? His? Everyone's? Was that why Colton had looked so amused after Paul's question?

"It's not that simple," she shook her head lightly. "I think we're just really in-tune. I usually have to really concentrate to pick out thoughts. It's not the same as Edward."

Summer looked away from me quickly, focusing on the book again. She flipped a page, and suddenly, her mom was with another man. He was tall, dark, and obviously Native American. The smile on his face looked only half-genuine, as if he wished no one were taking pictures of him. I didn't know what I expected Summer's father to look like, but it wasn't this. He had a tall, wiry frame, with long and lean muscles. His skin was a deep, dark tan, as though he had seen the sun on top of being naturally bronzed. His black hair was long and tied back in a low ponytail, and he had a sleeve of tattoos on his left arm. He was clutching Summer's mother around the waist, holding her close, and she was beaming up at him, clutching the front of his shirt lightly.

I felt more than noticed through sight that Summer was crying. I pulled her close just as a lone tear dropped down on top of her father's face, blurring the picture. Summer wiped it off the plastic page cover with her sleeve quickly and smiled at me.

"Summer…" Emily hesitated.

"Yes?"

"Do you…know what tribe your father was from?"

Summer cheeks flamed a bright pink, and she was suddenly much warmer in my embrace.

"Summmmmmerrrrrr," Colton groaned, throwing his head back in frustration.

"I meant to tell them," she said, her voice high with embarrassment.

"Tell us…what?" Jacob asked, sounding disturbed.

"That our dad is…Quileute?" Summer suggested softly.

**aanddd...cliffhanger!**


	22. Past Comes Back with a Bite

**Sorry it took so long for me to update...school's been crazy, and my mom has been sick :(**

**Hope this makes up for my non-updating streak! Review with opinions and think about checking out my latest story, Hard to Love. It's about Paul imprinting on a witch!**

There was silence. I checked Seth's face to see his reaction. It was mostly shock, and I couldn't really pick out any other emotions coming from him. Even his thoughts seemed blank; I couldn't read anything off of him. I switched my gaze to Colton; his expression was clearly _I told you so_.

I realized that talking about important things was not my strong suit. I hated confrontations of any kind, and I would rather slice my own arm off before getting into a fight with Seth. The fear, though, had to stop. There was nothing worse in the world than a coward, and I was hurting the people around me by withholding information. This little trip down memory lane was meant to rectify all of my previous blunders, but it was definitely off to a rough start.

I was saved from further subjection to my inner thoughts by my cell phone ringing shrilly from my bag in the kitchen. I threw the photo album into Seth's lap and sprinted to catch the phone before it picked up voicemail.

"Hello?" I asked, slightly out of breath. My heart thudded heavily in my ears. I hadn't checked the number to see who exactly was calling me; it could be anyone. There was soft breathing on the other end, but nothing more. "Hello?" I repeated impatiently. I was about to hang up when a quiet, tear-roughened voice spoke softly.

"Summer?" he asked softly.

Seth left my mind; there was only Tyler, and his obvious pain. Something was wrong-very wrong. The last time we had seen each other, we had such an explosive argument I thought we would never speak again. If he was so upset that he was calling me, something was dreadfully wrong.

"Sum?" he repeated, voice raised in anxiety.

"I'm here," I choked out, making my way to the front door. When it was shut firmly behind me, I spoke again. "Tyler? What's wrong?"

My feelings, the good, the bad, and the ugly, came back in a rush. Everything and anything I had felt for Tyler bombarded me in that moment: anger, happiness, sadness, love, hate…any kind of passion was brought into focus at the sound of his troubled voice.

"My mom," he breathed. "She's dead."

My blood went cold. Everything in my body felt as though it had come to an abrupt halt. My knees shaking like fall leaves, gave out beneath me and I fell to the ground into a small heap.

"Your mom-Summer, your mom killed my mom," Tyler said in short, raspy breaths. I knew by his tone that he was doing everything possible to hold back the tears and sobs that were pressing in on him.

"Tyler-," I hesitated.

"She's looking for you, Sum. My mom's office was torn apart when we looked at it. I'm pretty sure she's going to find you. You need to leave. Caroline said that you and Colton could come back to Mystic Falls for a week maybe, and we can find you a place from here. Sherriff Forbes has some connections in Maryland."

"Tyler-," I started again.

"I'm not going to stop protecting you, Summer. You and Colton are all I have left. Caroline, yeah, I've got her, but you and Colt…you're like family. I'm not going to let your mom kill you. She's done enough."

"Tyler!" I shouted. He was silent. "I'm not leaving Forks."

"What? Are you crazy?" he demanded, his tone questioning my sanity and all that was holy.

"Yes. No," I answered quickly, my mind spinning. "I'm not running anymore. I have…a family here. I have a life here. I'm not giving it up. My mom can suck it. I'm staying."

"Then I'm coming to you," Tyler said. His voice was hard, almost cold, and determined. "You're not going to get yourself killed. Think about Colton. I'm coming to stay with you to protect you from your mom."

"Tyler," I repeated, my tone icy. "This has gone on long enough."

"What?" he sneered.

"EVERYTHING," I growled out. I took a deep breath and exhaled before I spoke again. "My mom, you and me…everything. This is the last time my mom is going to see me."

"Summer-you are not going to play the martyr! I won't let you!"

"I'm not the one that's going to _die_, TYLER," I ground out through my clenched teeth.

The line was silent. I had rendered Tyler completely speechless.

"You would actually…" he trailed off.

"I'm going to do a tracking spell to see how close she is. Don't call me back."

I hung up my phone and, grumbling and muttering to myself like an old woman, marched back into the house.

Seth's dark eyes were wide and anxious, and I realized that he had heard every word.

"Mom killed Carol," I told Colton simply, bluntly. Colton was surprised, but he seemed to hide his sadness well. I only saw the tightening around his eyes because I was searching desperately for his reaction.

"She's on her way."

"Yep."

Colt and I looked at each other for a long time. I wasn't sure how much time passed until I blinked owlishly at Seth's hand wrapping around mine.

"When are we leaving?" Colton asked. I bit my lip.

"We're not."

"Um…excuse me?"

"We're not leaving this time. We're not running anymore. I'll protect you, Colton. I'm going to end this. We can't live the rest of our lives in fear, and I'm not going to move us cross-country again." My eyes turned to Seth, finding the anxiety in his eyes dimming as he gazed at me wordlessly. "I can't leave this place, Colt. I'm bound."

"Okay."

I was shocked. Colton never agreed with me, on principle, the first time I said something. It was his way of defying me. He agreed to stay in Forks, and I did not understand why.

"You…agree?" I asked.

"Well, there's no use fighting you; you control the finances and the car. I'm not too keen on hitchhiking, and despite my best efforts, I kind of like it here." He paused, his eyes looking directly into mine, unwavering. "I'm tired of running, too."

My phone, shrill and vibrating in my hand, alerted me of a second call-one that I really didn't want. Flashing across the screen of my iPhone, blonde hair a halo around her pretty face, green eyes flashing with mirth, my mom grinned up at me.

I didn't need to do a locating spell anymore; it was no use. My mom only called my phone number when she was practically on top of me. I couldn't run, I couldn't hide.

She was here.


	23. Summer's Mother

**Thnk you for the amazing reviews! They were all so encouraging, and I'm so glad everyone is enjoying this story! Please consider reviewing, or check out my new story in-between updates. It's called Hard to Love, and it is a witch/imprint story as well, but the magic is a lot more different and complex.**

**Without further ado, here is the next installment of Safehouse. This chapter is dedicated to WhiteDusk8888!**

There had to have been a time when I would think of my mother with warmth and fondness, but I couldn't remember it. My anger, disappointment, fear, and hatred had all rolled into one ball of resentment that overshadowed any other feelings toward the woman. After all she had done to Colton, Tyler, my friends and family, and me over the years, I found forgiveness impossible. It was one of my many, many faults, but it was something that I couldn't help or control; I hated my mother with a flaming passion.

Anger blazing through every limb of my body, I grit my teeth together and dug through the second of the boxes filled with memories. At the bottom rested a small oak chest with a lock. I fiddled with the false bottom on the outside and pulled out the key. Inside was a small revolver; my father had told me what it actually was but time had proved too harsh on my memory-I simply knew it was a gun now. Time hadn't, however, taken its toll on my knowledge of how to use the gun. Fortunately, I could load the bullets and shoot with decent accuracy at my target. I was just hoping my mother would stay still long enough for me to do so.

I could feel the eyes of several people on me as I loaded the gun, but I ignored them. I rifled through the chest and produced a short wooden stake, about ten inches in length and an inch in diameter. It was rounded, smooth, and bloodstained halfway down. I stuck it point-down into my boot and held the gun in my right hand. I needed to shoot her enough to get her down and then get to her fast enough to stab her with the stake. My mother had evaded me for two years; she was not getting away so easily again. If I didn't kill her, I would leave my mark and track her until she was good and dead. She was not allowed to threaten my brother, my wolf, and my wolf's pack. The thought of any of them being harmed was unacceptable.

My phone rang again and my mother's cheerful, laughing face flashed across the screen. I glared at my phone like it had conjured her itself and refused to answer it. Colton silenced it, but her face remained on the screen until the voicemail picked up.

Seth's warm hand touched my shoulder, his anxiety spiking. My anxiety at seeing my mother again had been pushed aside by the adrenaline and determination that I would kill her this time. No hesitating, no talking, just killing.

"Summer," Seth whispered. I ignored him, threw my arms around him, and kissed him. It took him a minute to kiss me back, but when he did, he threaded his fingers through my hair and crushed my torso to his.

Jared and Sam's sudden entrances and the howl of a wolf broke us apart. Sam's face was grim.

"We found a dead hiker in the woods."

"_Summer_," Colton ground out through his teeth. I could tell that he was scared, and mostly the fear was for me. I knew that he thought I was crazy-our mother was much more physically powerful than I was, and this whole idea could be a suicide mission, but I'd be dammed before I let my little brother live another day with my mother continuing to haunt us.

"She's here," I explained shortly to Seth. His eyes widened, but I turned to Jacob and Sam. "I'm going out alone. Keep everyone in the house. She _will _try to hurt someone. You have to trust me, okay?"

Sam was hesitant, but Jacob's eyes focused on me and he agreed immediately. I knew that we had a strong bond from me saving him, but I hadn't had the opportunity to test its strength yet. Judging by his reaction, though, it was solid. He would help me in whatever way he could.

My phone rang for the third time, letting me know that my mother was impatient and probably about to kill someone. I walked over to the front door and hesitated with my hand on the knob. There was no turning back once I opened the door.

"I love you, Seth," I whispered for the first time…and maybe the last. I heard him gasp softly, felt him fighting with Jake to get to me. Jacob was stronger and held him back as I let myself out of the house and into the front yard.

Colton had followed me out, as I knew he would. The others, I knew, would press their faces against the windows-forbidden to leave, but not forbidden to watch.

My mother stood just outside of the tree line. The emerald-green backdrop of the forest was a perfect contrast to her halo of wavy blonde hair and white-clad figure. She stood tall in a blousy white shirt, fitted white capris, and tall white wedge sandals. Her cheeks were flushed pink and her lips were coral and full. Her skin was a pale tan, and if one didn't know the monster she was, it would be easy to mistake her for an angel. My mother was beautiful-no doubt about it.

Then a deadly smile curled her coral lips upward, and her flashing white predator's teeth gleaming in the light of the shining sun.

"You have a lot of nerve to come here," I told her in a low voice as I descended the porch steps. Colton was wise and remained on the porch. My mother's pale green eyes, so much like Colton's and mine, flashed from him to me several times before fixing on my face.

"You've grown," she stated, ignoring my warning tone. "Both of you."

"You haven't changed," I said, falling into her game. "At all."

My mother smiled, delighted that I would play along. Her measured, slow footsteps-graceful and feline-brought her several yards closer to me. She inhaled deeply, smelling what she believed to be fear. I wasn't sure if I was scared or not; the adrenaline rush was too powerful to distinguish anything other than my hatred and determination.

"I've missed you," she said softly, her eyes melting.

It was times like these that memories of my childhood usually reared up and brought me to my knees in desperation. When she smiled and softened her eyes and demeanor like that I found it impossible not to see the mother that had lovingly raised me until her husband died. When he died, he took all her love, happiness, and her humanity.

I pushed the feelings and the memories from my carefree childhood back; Carol's face flashed through my mind, centering me again. My mother faltered, obviously unprepared to find me still willing to fight her after her usual tactic failed for the first time.

"They hid you well this time," she began, narrowing her eyes dangerously. "What better place is there than your dead father's hometown? What place would seem safer than the place I would never think to look?"

She cocked her head to the side as she slowly examined her surroundings. My finger itched to pull the trigger, but I knew that she would still be able to bolt with one bullet in her. I had to keep her talking, keep her interested.

"I've never been here before," she mused quietly, taking in the scenery. "It's beautiful, just like he was. Did you know he had a son here? Before he met me and joined the military…he was married…"

My mother trailed off, her eyes far away, living in the past. I felt that she was baiting me, trying to catch me at a vulnerable moment.

"I can't remember the boy's name…" she trailed off, murmuring aloud as she thought. "Steven…Simon…"

My stomach lurched, nausea taking over. My mother's sick, delighted smile swept across her face.

"Sam," she breathed.

My arm pulled up abruptly and a gunshot stole through the air. The loud noise made birds flee, my brother jump, my mother fall to the ground, and me fall to my knees.

She was hunched forward, clutching her stomach. My hand shook with the effort to pull the trigger again. My mother, in a terrible rage, lashed out at the closest thing to her.

Paul had just trotted in from the woods, looking shocked. Collin and Brady were behind him with Embry. My mother growled and grabbed Paul by the neck. Shocked and affronted, he whined and fought in protest, but she had her finger on a pressure point that kept him still. My mother's pupils dilated as she looked into Paul's eyes.

"Phase back," she commanded. Under the lure of compulsion, Paul shifted in my mother's deadly embrace. He was naked, terrified, and had terror-filled eyes as he stared down at my mother in shock. Even in his human form he towered over her, but she had the upper hand in strength.

I watched, helpless with frozen shock, as my mother's eyes turned blood red, veins spread across her cheeks, and fangs grew swiftly through her canines. She offered me a fearsome, horrifying grin before sinking her teeth deep into Paul's shoulder.

Paul screamed in pain, unaccustomed to a vampire biting into his flesh. I watched the agony enter his face and stay there for several eternal moments before I did anything.

"Stop!" I screamed, watching my friend suffer. "Mother! Stop!"

Her attention returned to me. She dropped Paul to the ground and pressed her foot against his bleeding throat to hold him in place while she looked at me. I knew that if Paul made to escape, she would snap his neck with her heel.

"Paul, do _not_ move," I ordered hoarsely.

"Such a sweet boy," my mother crooned to him softly. The sound of her soft voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up; she had used that voice too many times in horrifying situations for it to ever sound sweet or comforting to my ears. Her eyes turned back to me, normal once more. Bright red blood smeared across her lips and chin, making her resemble a guilty angel caught doing something wrong. "You've never been so disrespectful before," she noted idly, pulling the wooden bullet from her gut with a slight wince. Her blood-soaked shirt clung to her stomach, and the hole in it was about the size of a quarter. "This was Versace, Ondine Summer."

"Don't call me that," I spat immediately, resenting her use of my full name.

"I'm your mother," she stated calmly. Her eyes had gone cold. "I'll call you whatever the hell I want."

"You are not my mother. You are the woman who gave birth to me," I clarified, seeing red. I stumbled to my feet and aimed the gun at her once again. I didn't wait for her to answer my statement before firing off three consecutive shots to her chest.

I could not understand how she was able to stand; growling and snarling, and make her way close enough to me to grab me by my long hair. She fisted my dark ponytail, pulling me close to her, and yanked hard to expose my neck.

I heard the ripping and shredding of fabric as one of the wolves exploded. I realized belatedly, with the look of shock on my mother's face, that it wasn't an actual member of the pack.

It was Colton.


	24. The Struggle

**Wow. Lots and lots of updates, yes? I've rekindled my love for Summer, where I had sadly pushed her to the side before.**

**Thanks to WhiteDusk8888 for the review _and_ PM. To clear up anyone else's confusion, Summer's mother was originally a witch, but turned to vampirism to escape the realities of her pain. She could not tolerate her husband leaving her. They were imprints without being imprints-if Summer's father would have been a wolf, he would have had an imprint on Summer's mother. He didn't, however, and they both had major issues, so the relationship died. Yeah.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! There should only be about five (maybe) chapters left for this story...savor these while you can!**

I felt rather than heard the fierce snarl through my mother's chest. My back was pressed against her chest, my head on her shoulder, my neck exposed to her open mouth. My hair was twisted in knots that had me looking straight ahead, watching as my brother whined nervously and jumped from left to right, trying to get to my mother.

Because he couldn't listen and had no sense of self-preservation when it came to me, Seth bounded down the porch steps and phased beside my brother. Two wolves waited, watching my mother with too-human eyes. Her laugh made my chest thud in fear, pulsing quickly. I knew that my pulse was exposed, leaving my fresh blood just beneath the surface to call to my mother's bloodlust. I could no longer push away my fear, seeing as I was almost dead. With one minute move, my mother could finally dispose of me.

The tension in the air could have been cut with a feather-not a knife. Every gasping breath from me brought Colton and Seth an inch closer. My mother's hysterical laugh bubbled to the surface again as she addressed Seth.

"You think you can get to me before I snap her neck? Either way, someone dies. If I go down, I'm taking my daughter with me, wolf."

His answering snarl accompanied two steps back, and I understood his dilemma. He couldn't get to me without the risk of my mother killing me first. Colton snarled in equal frustration. At least he wasn't freaking out anymore.

Sam walked out of the house slowly with Jacob. Leah stayed inside with Emily.

"You knew my father," Sam said softly. I could picture my mother's smile lighting her face when she looked at Sam.

"You look just like him." She paused, cocking her head to the side. I twitched, my back was unused to being in such a position, but her grip on me tightened. "Colton and Summer look too much like me. I can see him in you…you have the same eyes…" Her tone was eerie, far away, and downright creepy. I didn't like the idea of her giving that look to Sam-he definitely didn't deserve it. "He wrote you letters," my mother smiled fondly. "He apologized and begged you to forgive him. He said he just couldn't stay tied down to one place. He was very sorry." My mother laughed. "I burned them all."

She loosened her grip on my hair enough so that she could stroke it with a hand that had the power to crush my skull. I cringed back from her petting, but she didn't care.

"He left me," my mother stated coldly. She glared at Sam.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"No you aren't."

"I am."

The two of them were having some kind of face-off. I was plotting a way to get to the stake in my boot to stab my mother through the heart, as she had done figuratively to mine for years now.

Low growls permeated the air, and I realized the rest of the pack, with the exception of Leah, Jacob, and Sam, had phased and were stalking closer to my mom. Even Paul was inching his way, limping with the open wound in his shoulder. My mom looked around at all of them and laughed.

"You seem to think I have a problem with killing her. I'll tell you right now: I don't. I'll snap her neck faster than you can blink and be gone in the next second. And I'll come back for him," she said, jutting her chin in Colton's direction.

For a while, no one moved. Then my mother bent her head to my neck and bit down hard.

Emotional wounds and physical ones opened up once more. The scars from her previous bite-and-runs throbbed as she opened them up again. Red-hot pain burned in my neck, and a small river of blood ran down my throat.

Screaming was impossible. My mother sank to her knees, pulling me to the ground as well. She crouched over my form, latched on to my neck, and I felt myself slowly being drained. All of my fight went with my blood, and I knew that I wouldn't have the physical or emotional strength to kill her. There was something that would break when a person was fed on. Deep inside of me, something snapped, and fatigue took over my limbs. Whether it was trust that a child has that their mother would never hurt them or something that any person would feel from death taking their life…whatever it was, it was broken. I was broken.

My mother had won.

* * *

At some point, I slipped into a waking-dream. I could see and feel everything around me. I could even hear everything. I could not, however, react in any way. I was shut down.

I knew that one of the wolves finally lunged. I knew that Sam dove into the mass of wolf bodies and screeching vampire to pull me out and cradle me to his chest protectively. I watched as Colton ripped off our mother's head with his sharp teeth. I saw Paul phase back weakly to light her remains on fire.

Sam carried me to his and Emily's house. We were up the porch steps and brushing past Jacob's stone form before I could think. I felt the plush sofa beneath my back, heard Emily and Leah frantically searching for towels, water, medical things…

Someone called for Dr. Cullen. That had me up and in a fit.

"NO!" I yelled at Sam. His face swam before my eyes, doubling and even tripling. "No vampires. No doctors. Colton," I breathed. Where my voice had started out fierce and demanding, it had faded to soft whispers.

I wasn't sure if anyone heeded my demand or not. In the next few minutes, as Jacob held my hand and whispered that I would be okay, blackness began closing in on my vision of his face.

After several short moments, Jacob's face was swallowed by the blackness, and I was plunged into the black abyss. I was unsure if I would surface again.


	25. Strange Visitors

**Hope this is good for everyone :)**

Emily and Sam's guestroom felt like a tomb.

I had been torn for the longest time between going to Summer and watching as Jacob, Emily, and Leah worked over her and Paul and coaching Colton out of his wolf form. Either would have made Summer happy-me at her side or at her brother's. I knew deep down though, that Colton needed me more than her in that moment. In those precious moments when I was debating on phasing back to human or not, I could feel Summer's burden settling on my shoulders-the burden of a parent, of an authority figure. The weight seemed odd on my shoulders, but I knew that it was right. Somewhere along the line of loving Summer, I began to care for her brother, too. Colton was just as much my brother as he was hers, and if she treated him more as a son, I would do the same.

Colton's stray thoughts broke through to me, and I winced.

_I'd rather you be with _her_._

_What makes you say that?_ I countered. Colton hesitated and tried to hold back what he was thinking, but he didn't have that level of control over his thoughts yet.

_She might not wake up, Seth. I think you should be with her._

We were running in small, loopy circles around Emily and Sam's house. We were far enough away to hear them speaking, but not close enough to hear anyone's heartbeats. The others had phased back a long time ago, worrying over Summer and Paul and trying to give Colton and I some privacy to get him phased back.

The soft purr of a car turning off the main road had Colton and I running back to the house. We peeked through the trees and suddenly, Colton was human again, staring in disbelief as three people exited what was obviously a rental car. Colton tugged on shorts that Sam had left out for him and ran out to greet the three strangers. I followed him silently in human form, a little shocked by his abrupt switch that seemed almost mindless.

What looked to be a friendly greeting quickly turned sour as I watched Colton spring over lightly to the blonde-haired, blue eyed female and male, and the dark haired and eyed male.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Colton growled out as his fist made contact with the darker male's face.

"Colton!" I shouted in reprimand, running over to restrain him. I locked my arms around his arms and chest and held him back from landing another punch on the guy. Remarkably, he was still standing, though his nose was bloody.

"I guess I deserved that," he acquiesced quietly. He turned his eyes back to Colton. "Where's your sister?"

"What do you care what happens to Summer!" Colton growled out, dangerously close to phasing, in my opinion. "Let me go, Seth. I'm not going to phase. Fists are much more satisfying."

"Colt, you can't just walk around and hit people," I muttered sternly as I released him. He shook out his arms and glared back at me.

"I'm not hitting people; I'm hitting Tyler. There's a huge difference." Although Colton's tone was light, there was no humor in his voice or face, and I realized exactly what he was saying a second too late.

This Tyler was Summer's Tyler. The boy that had broken her heart; he had smashed it to pieces when he got with…Caroline-the blonde female next to him. The blonde male was a mystery to me, but Colton didn't seem angered by his presence, so I thought he was probably okay.

Colton's anger burned off faster than I thought possible; maybe he really only needed the one punch to feel better. Tyler used the hem of his shirt to wipe his nose clean, and then looked up at me as he caught me staring at him. I wasn't sure if I was more angry at him or jealous of him in that moment-he who had been with Summer since childhood, grew up with her, loved her for far longer than I had, and had been her first in many senses of the word. His fixed stare soon became a glare as I refused to look away. Something about him smelled all wrong.

"Who's this?" Tyler asked, nodding his head in my direction. Colton's green eyes narrowed at Tyler.

"_This_ is Summer's boyfriend Seth. She met him our first week here. I like him a lot."

I wasn't sure why Colton's defense of me meant so much until it hit me that he was defending me from someone he had looked up to and grow up with for years. His animosity towards Tyler was obvious in his speech and actions, but I realized that he genuinely liked me with Summer. Gay as the statement was, it warmed my heart. My chest burned with pride and happiness.

Tyler grunted; hatred was obvious in his every pore directed at me.

"Look, we came to help. Your mom-," Tyler was cut off.

"Has already been here and killed. You're too late," Colton told him coldly. Tyler hesitated, swinging his eyes back to Colton.

"The bitch is dead?" he clarified.

"Tyler, that was his mother," the blonde male said suddenly. I realized that Tyler's words had upset Colton; he was trembling next to me.

"Bitch killed my mom and a lot of other people. Forgive me if I say I won't miss her."

"Ty," Caroline interjected, placing a restraining hand on his shoulder. "You shouldn't say that." The five of us were quiet for several long minutes.

"Um, Colt?" the blonde male asked, using Colton's familiar nickname. I wondered how close he was to Summer and Colton. He was awfully casual with the name, and seemed to know them well. "Where _is _your sister?"

"Mom bit her." Colton's statement made the event sound factual, almost clinical or commonplace. I wondered if he was playing nonchalance, or if this had happened so many times that it really didn't incite such reaction.

"Figures," Tyler muttered with an eye roll. Caroline slapped his chest; the thud echoed around us. She was letting him know that his commentary was not okay, and would not be tolerated much more. I was beginning to somewhat appreciate her presence; she seemed capable of handling the caveman that was Tyler.

"Can we see her?" the blonde male asked. Colton looked at him and his eyes softened just the slightest bit. Suddenly, Colton wasn't so angry or half as defensive. He seemed really tired then, and almost childlike in his stance. The combination of his recent spat with the police, fights with Summer, growth spurt, phasing, and killing of a vampire had changed my perspective of him. It was hard to remember that he was only about fourteen, and wouldn't turn fifteen for a few more months.

"I…guess," he caved softly. "Just you though, Matt; I don't trust either of them around her."

Matt followed Colton and me up and into Emily and Sam's house. We left Caroline and Tyler outside alone and headed in the guestroom to see Summer. Colton and Matt allowed me to pass first into the room, but I nearly fell to my knees in the doorway at the sight of her.

Jacob had placed her on the bed with a towel underneath her neck on the pillow. She was splayed on her back, legs straight and pushed together, hands folded across her stomach. She looked posed like a corpse. Her long, beautiful dark hair was a wild mess around her head, but had been pushed to the side that wasn't bitten. Her skin was death-pale but the bite itself was red, pink, and swollen. Blood still oozed into the bandages Emily and Leah had applied to her neck.

She looked terrible.


	26. Waiting for Her

**Sorry this is so long overdue! Took me forever to write this!**

"She looks awful," Matt said, scooting around me as he went to Summer's bedside. He peered down at her; blue eyes narrowed in concentration, and then looked back up between Colton and me. "She'll be okay."

"You don't know that," Colton whispered as he walked over and took Summer's hand. He sat in one of the few chairs around the bed and looked at his sister's still, pale face. In that moment, I didn't see Colton the kid. Though he was still young, he did seem aged in that moment, and I recognized the child who had been ripped away from his childhood. Everything about the look on his face screamed that he had seen Summer or someone similar like this before, and that saddened and scared me at the same time. How much violence, how much death, had Colton seen to put that expression on his fourteen-year-old face?

"She wouldn't leave you."

"She might not have a choice." Colton's rebuttal was bitter. Matt's answer was soft, tender even, to the kid.

"There's always a choice, Colt." Matt lumbered back over to the door and squeezed out as I stood and walked over slowly to the spot he had left. I wondered how much death and violence Matt had seen to make him sure of himself and calm in this situation. Summer's pale face was smooth and expressionless, which was eerie, considering she was always smiling or talking or giving me that cute little annoyed look-I liked the one where her eyebrows pulled together the best.

My Summer.

"Injuries like that take time to heal," Matt said as he walked back into the room. He was carrying something unfamiliar in his hands. When he lit the sticks and allowed them to burn across the room from Summer, the strong, smoky scent hit me. The incense was sweet and a little spicy smelling; I didn't have a name for it. "We'll let this burn for a while," he explained to me. My face must have shown my confusion, and Matt grinned. "She burned it for me when my sister bit me three years ago. She said it helped speed up the healing. I'm just hoping it'll do the same for her."

"Your…sister?" I asked, confused. Matt grimaced briefly.

"Vicki was…a free spirit."

"A high spirit," Colton cut back.

"She was not in a good place. She was a vampire for a while, but the town council found out and she was killed."

"Where did you find that, Matt?" Colton asked, nodding his head at the incense.

"We stopped by your house on our way out."

"Oh," Colton said easily. His eyes returned to Summer's face and his hand squeezed hers.

"The house here?" I asked. Matt shook his head.

"Back home." It bothered me when he referred to the small town in Virginia as home for Summer and Colton-they both belonged here, in Forks. In La Push. Matt paused, watching Colton and Summer for a while. "There's all kinds of stuff in that old place. Summer's talked about cleaning it out before, but she's never been home long enough to make arrangements. The historical society wants to make it into a historic mansion on the tour list."

"I don't want old people poking around in there," Colton growled out. "We grew up there. It isn't a museum, Matt." I noticed that the tips of Summer's fingers were turning red, but he wasn't shaking just yet, and I was hoping he would calm down by himself so I didn't have to drag him out myself.

"No one is going to do anything without Summer's approval. And she wouldn't want you unhappy, Colt," Matt said easily. "Summer probably doesn't want anyone in there anymore than you do." Apparently, that was exactly what he needed to hear; Summer's fingers returned to normal as he loosened his grip. "Besides, the house will always be there for you. I don't think your parents' will allows you to sell it."

"We're never moving back home," Colton answered coldly. His voice was strangely off, as though he were in a waking dream. It was the kind of voice Summer sometimes had when she was talking about the past. Colton's use of it, though, gave me chills. He was too normal, too much of a child, to have a tone or voice like that.

"We'll see," Matt placated him.

After some time, Matt convinced Colton to go with him to grab some food. I heard them moving about, talking with Emily, and finally the scrape of forks on plates as they ate. Jacob and Paul's entrances, however, startled me a little.

"She any better?" Jacob asked anxiously. Paul's eyes searched Summer's face and he winced. The paleness to her skin wasn't something only I noticed, and I could tell it freaked him out, too. Jacob's eyes were focused on me.

"No," I answered sullenly. If the incense was having an effect on Summer, it wasn't visible. It was, however, giving me a headache. My pulse throbbed at my temples.

"She'll be alright, kid," Paul told me, clapping a hand on my shoulder as he stood to my right. "Sure does stink in here," he said, eyeing the smoking sticks in the opposite corner. Jacob knelt on the other side of the bed and looked at Summer, watching her face tensely. It was weird, his expression-almost as if he could read her mind, or speak to her in some way. "Jake?" Paul asked. He had noticed the weirdness, too.

"Shh," Jacob hushed us, focusing on Summer's still, unmoving face. Jacob tentatively brought a finger close to touching the large wounded area on her neck before he stopped himself. Then, he seemed to make up his mind, and he gently peeled the bandages away.

The wound, though still pink and swollen, had stopped bleeding. The teeth marks remained, and the area around the bite was clearly bruising a fierce purple, but the partially healed bite was a bit freaky-Summer didn't have supernatural freaky healing powers like I did. Jacob examined the wound silently, so close that he was actually breathing on her neck. Slowly and tentatively, he lifted a finger to hover over the center of the mark. Then, almost possessed, he pressed down onto the bite with the gentlest of pressure.

Summer shot up with a sharp gasp.


	27. Waking Up

**Hope you all enjoy this chapter :) Review if it pleases you, it always makes me smile! And keep in mind that there will only be 2/3/4 chapters left...**

It took me about thirty long seconds to realize the fierce keening in the room that was making everyone wince was me. Leah and Emily were flustered, just having run into the room, by the time I had cut my piercing scream off. My glance bounced from Seth, Jacob, Paul, Emily, and Leah before making the circuit twice more. My hands, trembling, stretched out and fluttered my fingers with a mind of their own. It was me, though, who reached up to touch my own face and then traveled down slowly to touch the spot on my neck that throbbed. I remembered a sharp jab to the spot and nothing more, but from the way Jacob was crouched over the bed, I was assuming it was him who had poked me.

"What happened?" I demanded, touching my hair. My body felt foreign, different… I didn't feel like myself. "Where am I?" I asked, my voice pitching high in panic.

"Shh," Emily murmured as she rushed to my side. She touched my arm softly, pulling my hands from my hair. "It's alright. You're safe; you're in my house, in one of the spare rooms."

"Your mom took a chunk out of your neck," Paul offered up considerately. I could tell by his expression that he was worried and not trying to upset me. Despite my understanding, Seth let out a growl towards him.

"Hush," I admonished him with a sharp stare. His growl cut off abruptly and he surged forward to wrap his warm hands around mine.

"I didn't know if you were going to wake up. Ever," he whispered. He knelt down on the bedside but I pulled him up to sit beside me on the double bed. I leaned on his shoulder heavily. Already, I was exhausted.

Emily was babbling while I took the time to examine the small bedroom they had put me in. One thing in particular, though, caught my eye.

"Matt," I whispered. I looked at Seth, and Emily stopped speaking. "Matt is here. Isn't he?"

"Well-," Seth began. I was already moving though, fighting my way to the edge of the bed. When I stood though, I swayed and nearly fell on my face. Jacob's hand caught my arm and hauled me up from mid-fall. I didn't bother to thank him as I moved out of the door, stumbling along the way, and down the hall to the kitchen, where I could hear two low voices speaking softly.

Colton stood with a tall blonde man in Emily's kitchen, just in front of the sink. Though his clothes were new and not the usually faded and worn ones he wore, I would be able to tell that silhouette anywhere in the world.

"Matt," I whispered. He turned and I shot directly into his arms, nearly knocking the poor boy over with my momentum. He caught me and stabilized himself with the counter.

"Hey there, Sunshine," he chuckled. My cheeks warmed at the old nickname. He and Tyler had come up with it when we were younger, and it had stuck for years. Though I had pretended to hate it for the longest time, it really only made me feel special and loved. Until Tyler and I had broken up, and his last words to me were using the nickname as mockingly as he could. Matt's use of it, however, made me smile at the old memories.

"Are you here alone?" I asked him excitedly. The thought of any of my old friends, apart from Matt, was uncomfortable. None of them belonged in the green wonderland that was Forks-La Push.

"Um…no," he said. I stepped out of his embrace immediately. His blue eyes were careful-too careful. I idly realized that the people that had occupied the guest room were now hovering in the living room and kitchen, listening to my conversation with Matt.

"Summer," Colton said, calling my attention to my now wolfed-out brother. His gaze was steady, locking me into place. I felt my arms and thighs stiffen. My back arched into a straighter posture.

"Who came with you, Matt?" I demanded, whipping my head back around to look at him. The guilty expression on his face was all I needed. My eyes narrowed; heat surged through my limbs.

"Summer," Seth called to me softly. I felt his warm arms wrap around my waist and saw them overlap. The embrace was as much loving as it was restraining. "Neither of them have been anywhere near you. Colton didn't even let them into the house, okay? They're not going to upset you."

"Them?" I picked up quickly. I spun around in his arms, pinning him with a glare. "_Them_?" I repeated when no one had answered me. I whirled back around to glare at Matt, resenting for the first time in our relationship that Seth's arms were holding me. Holding me back, that is.

"Summer, you need to calm down," Colton told me bossily, snottily, as thunder began to roll in. I stiffened in Seth's arms, glaring at my brother.

"Don't tell me to calm down, you little brat," I hissed. Well, Tyler always had brought out the worst in me.

"Sum," Matt interjected. "Don't talk to him like that. I didn't bring them on purpose, it just happened this way."

"That's really easy for you to say, Matt."

"No, it's not. I get it, Sum. But you know that they aren't going anywhere."

"Like hell they aren't."

"Sum."

"Matt."

We were caught in a stare-off. Finally, I spun around in Seth's arms and smiled up at him. He stroked my cheek absently and I buried my face in his chest. I glanced across the room at Leah, who was watching me shrewdly. I knew she would do this; see how I would act around the ex that had caused me so much pain. She wanted to know just how I would react to his presence again. And I knew that I would not disappoint with the show I would give. Tyler knew that he had no right to come to see me, no matter who had died. He knew that I was set on never seeing him again, as I had made perfectly clear when I had thrown plate after plate of my parents' wedding china at him when he dared to try to patch things up with me the last time we had been together. There was no way in hell he wasn't going to be run off the Quileute Reservation if _I_ had any say in it.

"Why is he still here?" I demanded. I felt my heart rate increase, a dead giveaway that I was truly upset to all of the werewolves in the room. Only Emily and Matt remained oblivious to my human trigger. The thunder booming so close to the house, however, was far from normal, and something only Colton and Matt recognized.

"Despite his…attitude…and general overbearing asshole tendencies, he cares about you. And he's worried," Matt tried to say diplomatically. My jaw locked, another roll of thunder echoed through the house. Matt's sky-blue eyes widened worriedly as he took in the look of concentration on my face and the sweat beading on my forehead. "Summer, no. Please, really, he has the best intentions. He didn't come to upset you!"

But his words were ineffective and I was already out of Seth's arms and through the front door. Tyler and Caroline jumped up from the porch steps; both looked like deer in headlights with wide eyes and open mouths. I crossed my arms and glared heavily at them. The storm rolling in from the ocean blackened the sky, and it was anything but natural. The strong winds ruffled Tyler's hair slightly, but Caroline's blonde curls and my own dark locks were bouncing around and swirling around our faces.

"What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" I demanded shrilly of Tyler. His face, smoothed out from the surprise of seeing me, had curled back up in defiance.

"I have every right to be here, Summer," he stated simply. His grin gave away that he was gloating. He thought that I couldn't push him off of these lands.

"You have NO right," I returned shrilly. My voice had shot up several octaves, and by the winces on Caroline and Tyler's faces, I knew they had noticed.

"Summer-," Caroline began. My glare cut her off immediately and she looked at me with that deer-in-headlights expression again. My glare whipped back around to Tyler. His palms were open towards me, pleading. My mega-glare intensified.

"I told you that I never wanted to see you again, Tyler," I ground out between my teeth. I was livid. A part of me felt as if I were overreacting, but the irrationally angry part of me pushed that to the side. I had every right to be a bitch to this mega-ass who had betrayed me. "And to think that you brought _her_ with you…that's low, even for _you_."

"Summer," he started. My eyes were slits, and I could not narrow them anymore, or they would close on me.

"Tyler," I growled out. It surprised me that I could have been Leah in that moment; the animalistic sound had no place stemming from _my_ throat. It was too feral to sound human.

"Sum," Colton called from behind me. The calm in his voice made me issue a growl that sounded far from human. Dimly, I registered my fingers shaking.

"Oh no, not another one," Paul groaned.

"That isn't a werewolf about to phase trembling, Paul," my brother told my friend gravely.

"Well what is it?" Sam asked softly. I could almost _feel_ Colton grimace behind my back.

"That's a witch about to dish out some power. Can't you feel the weather change? That isn't normal," he explained softly.

"Everything's so quiet," Leah murmured.

"Exactly," Colton confirmed. His large hand pressed tentatively to my back, but I was too focused on Tyler to care. My fingers shook with the effort to hold in everything that was trying to escape. All of my anger, hurt, regret, disbelief, passion, love, hate, and agony over Tyler congealed into one, desperate ache in the center of my chest. My heart rate accelerated, I felt the magic that tingled through my body push through my veins and spark on my skin. Colton pulled back his hand reflexively, already seeing that I was too far gone. And Tyler, being the idiot he was, goaded me further.

"What's wrong, Sunshine?" he taunted. "Cat got your tongue? Or is it the wolf again? I remember how you like the wild ones."

"Shut. Up," I ground out through my teeth. The pressure in the air around us was heavy, and it pressed down on my lungs, turning my deep breaths into short pants. The lack of oxygen to my brain only brought the whirlwind around us closer in. I took a step closer to Tyler, down the first of the three porch steps. The porch boards creaked behind me, I knew that two people had stepped forward. My senses told me it was Colton and Seth-of course. "Stay back," I hissed in their direction. "I don't want to hurt either of you."

Though it went against everything in them, they did as I asked and took two large steps back. Colton, I knew, was itching to rush forward and calm me down before anything got worse, but he knew that Tyler had it coming.

"Calling off the guard dogs, Sun?" Tyler continued with my childhood nickname.

Millions of moments blurred together at the sound of his voice murmuring my nickname: long, lazy afternoons under the falls; brisk autumn evenings in the graveyard; cold winter nights at his football games; the warm spring parties in the woods. And further back still: swinging across the creek on the old rope; sneaking around the old Lockwood cellar; climbing the fences and roaming the wildflower laced pastures; swimming in the muddy lake; laughing on a bright sunny day in June when we were still toddlers. Always, always the mixture of Summer and Sunshine, Tyler and Tiger, happiness and childhood.

My memories were cut short when they touched on my brief visit home when his father had been killed, and finding Tyler and Caroline together in his bedroom. They were sitting on his bed, just talking, but their laced fingers and guilty expressions told me way more than Tyler's apologetic words ever could.

"You gonna fight me or not, babe?" he teased lightly. That was what sent me over the edge.

As abruptly as the wind had whipped around us, I sent it hurtling at him. He flew backwards about fifty yards and I advanced on him quickly, my pulse quickening as I stomped across the grass. Caroline moved to block my path, but she went flying to the left and landed against a hard tree. She slumped to the ground, useless. My attention returned to Tyler, who was now scooting away from me, a glare of his own morphing his face. He stood as quickly as he could manage and stepped forward, advancing on me. I moved to punch him, but he caught my fist. I glared and he laughed.

"Did you forget who taught you how to fight?" he laughed. I raised my left hand and smacked him across the face; the loud slap echoed around us. The wind died down immediately. Tyler's hand clenched tighter around mine and he glared down at me. His free hand reached up and gripped my chin so tightly that I was sure it would bruise. He yanked my face to the side and examined the bite mark that still marred my neck. Old scars stood up in sharp relief, I knew, by the new damage. Tyler's cool breath washed over the wound, igniting the fire in my blood once more. He released my right hand and I flipped my chin back in his fingers to look at his face. The movement swished my hair over my shoulder, covering the bite.

Before Tyler could speak his mind again, I reared back and punched him sharply in the gut, force on my side with the power of the earth surging through my bare feet, through my limbs, and with my arm. Tyler lurched and folded in on himself, releasing my chin in the process.

"What was that about teaching me to fight?" I taunted lightly, my voice a deadly growl. The wind picked back up again, and my eyes flashed dangerously at Tyler. He knew then that I wasn't going to give in this fight.

"What was that about your mom being dead?" he cut back.

And suddenly, Tyler was on his knees, howling in pain and rage, clutching his head as though it were trying to leave his body. His tortured expression held me captivated, as tragic as it looked. Suddenly, I was no longer in pain. And although it must have felt like hours to him, I released Tyler from the spell after a mere five seconds. I caught his chin as he slumped forward and brought his eyes up to meet mine.

"Don't you _dare_ speak about my family that way. Don't you_ dare_ _ever_ show your face here again. I will _not_ hesitate to drive a stake through Caroline's heart and a knife through your tiny penis. Do you understand?" my voice was deadly serious and eerily quiet, and Tyler's deep brown eyes spoke volumes. I hauled him to his feet by tugging on his chin. Though he was several inches taller, he still cowered from me like a child. I pointed at Caroline. "Go get her, get in that car, and don't ever come back."

"Hmph," Tyler harrumphed as he stalked over to Caroline's limp form. He flipped me off and my rage threw a bolt of lightning just inches from where he stood. Startled, he turned and glared at me.

"We should stop them," Seth said worriedly from the porch.

"Nah, they fight like this all the time," Matt told him easily.

"Even when they were together," Colton chimed in helpfully. Matt laughed in agreement. I watched Tyler and pursed my lips as I crossed my arms, daring him to come after me. Instead of signing his death wish, he lumbered over to Caroline and helped her up. She was just stirring, so he carried her to the car and settled her in the front seat. Instead of walking around to the driver's side, though, he grabbed a huge stack of papers from the backseat and started walking towards me. My eyes narrowed in suspicion as he drew close and then slapped the stack to the ground. His grin was boyish and would be considered cute by any of the girls we had grown up with back in Virginia. To me, it was a manipulative grin, designed and executed on purpose.

"What's this?" I asked. He grinned when I took the bait.

"Oh…stuff. It was all at your house. We clean the mailbox out every day. This stack has been growing for a while now." Tyler paused, glanced down at the pile, and turned his cocky grin back on to me. He leaned forward and lowered his voice to a soft, breathy whisper. "You know…Caroline and I broke up after my mom's funeral. We decided to just be friends. I came here to win you over and get you back."

"Stop lying."

"I'm not," he said, narrowing his eyes. "I was stupid to ever give you up, Summer. I realize that now. Nothing that Caroline ever did could compare to you. It's like…you were my North Star, always guiding me home. And when I couldn't see you, Caroline was the moon, and made all the stars around her fade away. But you're here now, and you're everything that I've missed and everything I've ever wanted. I need you like I need air to breathe, Summer. I realized that after my mom was gone. I had been hurting, but then…you."

And then Tyler took my face into his hands and kissed me, hard.


	28. Coping

**Sorry this chapter is so long overdue, but it's a super long one :)**

**Thoughts and comments are appreciated :)**

The kiss, mercifully, was quick. When he pulled away, Tyler stared at me expectantly, waiting for my reaction. Dumb and stuck in disbelief, I stood stock-still silently, my wide eyes stuck on Tyler's smirking face. As his smirk grew however, I felt someone drawing nearer. Though I didn't have the good sense to turn around, the large brown hand and arm that snapped and hurled at Tyler's face let me know that it wasn't my brother or Matt who knocked Tyler off his feet and out.

I looked down at Tyler and cocked my head to the side in speculation. His handsome jaw was quickly bruising, and his nose was definitely broken and bleeding. Somehow, I felt zero remorse for his pain in that moment. Nothing about his predicament inspired any sympathy in me. The emptiness inside, the blankness of feelings, was horrifying. I knew that what I needed above all else in that moment was to get away.

_Oh god. She's got that look on her face. She's going to bolt._ Seth's thoughts, unbidden, drifted gently into my own thoughts, melding with my consciousness. I dimly registered a feeling that I couldn't place…something like comfort, but more empathetic than that.

"You want me to put him anyplace special?" Paul grunted as he toed Tyler in the side. Unresponsive as I was, Paul turned to Sam for direction while I continued to look down at the grass that caressed my bare feet. It was cold and squishy, but it felt nice.

A hot hand enclosed around mine, and Seth's thoughts felt stronger, more concrete somehow.

_She needs to go. I want to go with her, but she…needs someone else. Does she want Colton or Matt? Or does she need Leah?_

_God I want to help her; get that look off her face. She's too pretty to look so sad._

_Tell me what to do, Summer. Dammit, I don't know what you need._

Although he wasn't actually addressing me in his thoughts, that whispery plea was all I needed to come back to myself.

My voice, croaky and hoarse, left me feeling even more hollow than before. "I'm leaving. I'll be back tomorrow. Leah?"

"What?" she demanded.

"You're coming with me."

She hmphed in response but didn't comment, just as I knew she would. Leah followed me to my car and hopped in the passenger side. Colton hurried over in a light jog to hand me my purse. I threw the bag into the backseat and felt no annoyance whatsoever when it exploded and scattered money, tissues, lipsticks, and granola bars all over the backseat of my car.

"Caroline?" I called. She had since roused herself from the rental car and stood beside where Paul was glaring down at Tyler and occasionally shooting her death glares. I nodded my head to the backseat of my car and she scurried over and inside. I threw myself into the driver's seat and shut my door, waving distractedly at the watching pack as I spun around and shot down the dirt road to the main road like a bat out of hell.

* * *

We ended up, ironically, at the same bar in Port Angeles that I worked at. My boss wasn't in, I knew they didn't check IDs, and it was really the only place I felt even remotely semi-comfortable in. When I dragged Leah and Caroline inside after a super awkward and long car ride, I walked straight up to the bar and smiled at the bartender. The sun was just beginning to set in the cloudy sky outside, but the bar was already as rambunctious as ever.

"Hey there, little one," the bar tender called to me with a wink. "You're not on the schedule this week."

"I know. I'm here on my own time. Can I get some drinks?" I asked sweetly. The bartender, whose name I could not remember, blinked at me slowly, almost sleepily.

"Can I see some ID?" he returned. I increased the sugar in my smile and turned the charm on full as I slowly blinked back at him.

"I really just want some drinks. My friends are waiting." The bartender smiled a dopey grin.

"Pick your poison," he offered with a smirk.

* * *

I plopped a bottle of tequila on the table Caroline and Leah had picked and set three shot glasses down alongside it. I slumped into the third chair and glared at the bottle harshly. Leah looked peeved by the whole ordeal but Caroline…watched me, waiting. She understood. She knew better than anyone else what Tyler would drive me to do. She knew better than any other person in Forks-La Push exactly what I needed to get past the fight and Tyler's revelation. Caroline understood what Summer did to escape her reality, Tyler specifically.

I could remember all too clearly the nights Caroline had been my companion when we tore up the tiny town we had been born in. I could vividly remember raising hell with her by my side, drinking ourselves into oblivion when Tyler was high with his stoner buddies and making moves on Matt's sister Vicki. The clarity of my past was startling, and I realized that it was a side effect of my magic returning to me.

"So," Caroline said in a bright, distracting voice. She looked around uneasily. "This is a nice place."

"You liar," Leah huffed out bitterly, crossing her arms over her chest. Her glare swiveled from Caroline to me and honed in on my bland expression. "This is where Summer works."

"Hmm. Well. It's just lovely," Caroline punctuated sarcastically with a dramatic eye roll. She gestured to the tequila and I nodded my assent. Caroline opened the bottle and measured out three healthy shots in the glasses on the table. "What the hell are you doing, Summer?" Caroline sighed softly.

I knew that just as her question had a variety of meanings, my answer could have a variety of answers as well. I chose the easier, less scary and more lighthearted route.

"Drinking tequila and drowning in my sorrows," I told her drily as I threw back the shot and reveled in the slow burn down my throat. Leah and Caroline exchanged a charged, angry look before looking away mutually and focusing their eyes on me. I had already managed to down Caroline's shot and was working on Leah's.

The burn of the alcohol in my throat faded to a nice warmth in my belly. With the fire of the burn, I felt as though the alcohol was burning away the bad in me, and the problems associated with it. The idea was very poetic and made a lot of sense to my drunken mind and scattered thoughts.

I was pretty sure that I made it through half the bottle of tequila on my own. As far as I could tell, Leah didn't touch the stuff, and Caroline only took a shot or two. Before I knew it, I was moaning out my whole life's story for Leah in the noisy, crowded, stuffy bar while Caroline added some input herself every now and then when I paused for another shot. I didn't discount anything she said, but it was mainly because I couldn't hear her rapid whispers that were eerily close to Leah's ear. I did, however, begin to regale them both with my current problems, starting with my mother two years previous and ending with Tyler being the asshole that he was.

"And I mean, he's just such a little bitch," I finished my final slur with an eye roll. Caroline and Leah, though looking tired, were both still listening to my every word. I took comfort in the girls that cared for me; Seth, Jake, and Paul were great, but a girl needed some girlfriends, too.

"What happened with you and Jake?" Leah asked curiously as I paused to slop more tequila down my numbed throat. I wasn't even sure where I was anymore; it didn't even look like the place I worked at. I wondered idly when Caroline and Leah had moved me, and how they had done so without my realizing it. They were geniuses!

"I healed him with the magic of the _beyond_!" I shouted at her excitedly. My outburst and subsequent giggles earned a few stray looks of mild annoyance our way, but didn't deter the bar patrons in their own activities.

"Cut the crap, Summer," Leah rolled her eyes. "He follows you around almost as bad as my brother. And he made you wake up from your...kind-of coma. What. Happened?"

"I need more tequila," I pouted, shaking the empty bottle in Leah's face. She and Caroline wore matching frowns.

"You need a glass of _water_," Caroline stressed. She and Leah wore that same stern expression and glared at me. Hysterical giggles bubbled from my lips at the sight of them, frowning at me together, questioning my sanity.

"You two are the same person!" I squealed in delight. I clapped my hands together obnoxiously.

"Summer. Stop," Leah told me firmly with a frown.

"Yes _mom_," I snorted sarcastically. Tears sprung immediately to my eyes after the retort, suddenly regretful. Leah blanched at my tears while Caroline turned concerned. They had some differences, then.

"Summer, what's the matter?" Caroline asked me. Leah looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"I…I don't have…my mom is DEAD!" I wailed as I threw my head dramatically into my arms. Idly I wondered how I had consumed this much alcohol and was still alive and semi-functioning. Though my emotions were haywire and my brain fried, I could still hold a somewhat coherent conversation. Score two for Summer!

"Sum, you told us that your mom died years ago, remember? She hasn't been the same since your dad…"

I cut Caroline off with another dramatic declaration.

"I don't have a dad either! I'm an ORPHAN!" I wailed.

"You have a brother," Caroline offered weakly.

"Two brothers," Leah inserted sourly. Caroline looked over, surprised, and I continued sobbing into my arms.

"I'm a failure to both! I can't be a mom to Colton and he turned into a wolf! And I missed out on Sam's whole life! I'm a terrible sister!" I squealed.

* * *

The rest of the night passed in a long, colorful blur. I remembered playing beer pong with a large, scary looking biker man and also taking bets on winning at poker. I won, about $100 total, but Leah freaked and made Caroline give it back. After that, I remember being in the car, but not getting in or the ride home. After that, everything was fuzzy and punctuated with a stabbing headache.

* * *

"Hey there," a soft voice called quietly when I finally cracked my eyes open into slits. I sat up quickly, which was a big mistake, and threw up violently in a bucket someone held under my chin.

"You're okay, Summer," the soft voice continued soothingly. I blinked rapidly for several seconds, clearing my vision, and looked up into Seth's warm dark eyes. He smiled at me tenderly, with trembling lips, and waited for me to say something. I don't know why he looked so damn depressed, but I knew that I would find out if it killed me.

"What…where…" I couldn't even form a coherent question. Seth smiled at me sympathetically and rubbed my back with his huge, hot hand.

"You're back at home. Leah and Caroline brought you back. They're both in the kitchen now. How's your stomach?" he told me slowly. I blinked for a second, unresponsive while I formed my thoughts. All of a sudden, my thoughts were slower and my mouth felt disconnected.

"Last night…" I groaned. My back slumped, unable to hold my weight up, and Seth caught me before I slumped back onto the pillows behind me.

"You went to that bar in Port Angeles," Seth finished my thoughts for me. I nodded slowly, tracing back the events of the evening. "Tyler woke up a few minutes after you left," Seth explained, guessing my thoughts from my expression. I wasn't sure how he was exactly following my disjointed line of thoughts, but it certainly was helpful.

"Are you…"

"Mad at you? No. How could I be?"

"He kissed me."

"But you didn't kiss him. I know that. You were shocked. I mean, it was like an ambush."

"Yeah. But…"

"Do you want me to be mad? Would it make you feel better?" His question held no hint of sarcasm or bitterness, only concern. He wanted me to be comfortable with this, whether it meant he was mad or not. He was trying to make me feel better about my potential tryst with Tyler. I wasn't sure how this made me feel- did I want to be mad? Did I want Seth to be mad?

"You're confused," Seth said with a little smile. "I'll get you some coffee. I'll be back in a minute."

Seth returned with the largest mug we had, filled to the brim with hot coffee. I sipped on it slowly, and Seth smiled softly as he watched me.

"Why are you smiling?" I croaked curiously.

"Well…you don't like Tyler."

"Yeah. Didn't we talk about this a long time ago?"

"It's just nice to be reassured. You know, that you love me and not him. It's just nice."

"I love you," reminded him with a smile. Even with my head pounding and my skull throbbing, I could always muster up a smile for Seth. It was too difficult to _not_ smile at him.

Seth laughed lightly and handed me two small blue pills-blessed pain relievers! Blessed boy!

"My hero!" I crowed as I downed them with a gulp of hot coffee. The coffee burned and scalded my mouth and throat, but I didn't care. Seth continued to chuckle at my antics and then slipped under the covers beside me on the bed. I scooted a little so he could fit his whole butt on the mattress and then relaxed against his chest with a relieved sigh. He gently pried the mug of coffee from my hands and placed it on the bedside table so we could cuddle properly. As the pain in my head dissipated and the throbbing lessened, Seth murmured sweet nothings and stroked my hair lovingly.

We were rudely interrupted two hours later when Jacob and Paul burst into my bedroom. Seth had fallen asleep and I was busy tracing patterns across his bare chest and humming softly. Their production shocked Seth awake and into a sitting position with his hair wild around his head and his chest flushed with surprise.

"Hey man, time for you to patrol," Jake chirped cheerfully.

"Don't worry," Paul reassured him with a dramatic wink and a glance in my direction. "We'll watch Summer for you."

Seth turned to me and kept his voice in a soft murmur as he kissed me softly on the cheek and forehead. "I'll be back at four. Don't wait up for me."

"So, Sum," Paul said after Seth had left reluctantly. "What's up?" Paul made himself comfortable on my left, on my side of the bed I shared with Seth, while Jacob took the spot Seth had been on. Squished between two full grown shifters was a tight squeeze on my queen size bed, and only barely manageable. On the plus side, I wasn't cold.

"I don't know," I murmured as I picked at threads on my blanket. I was suddenly shy around my guy friends-how had I looked, being kissed by my ex in front of their brother, and then taking off with his sister to go gallivanting in Port Angeles and drinking the night away? And from what I could remember, most of the morning, too…

"We're not judging; I hope you know," Jake told me with an eye roll. "We're just curious. What did you get up to exactly? Leah and Seth wouldn't give any details. Everyone could see you were upset…"

Why did they sound like such gossips? They were almost acting like teenage girls, and it was going to give me the giggles.

"Well, Jake's not judging," Paul leered. "I make no promises."

"Ha ha," I laughed sarcastically with an eye roll. I sighed and spoke seriously. "I took Leah and Caroline to the bar I work at. I remember a bottle of tequila. I think I drank it by myself." Paul whistled appreciatively, but neither of them commented. They waited for the rest of what I would tell them. "I think I cried about my mom and dad, but I don't remember that part. I mean, I remember thinking about it, but not talking about it. And then…I mean, Tyler's an ass. He always has been, but…I just…I don't know how things ended up like this. He and I…if I hadn't met Seth…" I trailed off, fighting back frustrated tears. For all that Leah and Caroline were able to do for me, I didn't understand how I could pour my heart out to Jacob and Paul and not them. Or Seth.

"You would have married him. Had a life together…back in Virginia," Paul guessed softly. His normally rambunctious, joking voice was subdued and pitched low.

"Yes," I whispered, choking on tears that _really_ wanted out of my eyes. Paul slung his arm around my shoulders and Jacob took one of my hands. How could I feel as though I had known these boys my whole life? Why were they so important to me? Why did their opinions matter so much?

"You know, Sum," Jake started softly. He was staring at the wall directly in front of him, next to the closed door. He sighed softly. "None of that matters to Seth. You need to stop worrying about he feels in all of this. He loves you, and all he wants to do is make you happy. With you worrying about him and about everyone else around you, you're not happy. You're worried about everyone_ but_ yourself. _That's_ what makes Seth upset. _Not_ Tyler, _not_ Colton, not the pack or your job or any of that crap. _He_ gets upset when _you're_ upset."

"How does this make you feel?" Paul asked, going off on Jacob's little tangent.

"Tired. Sad. Mad," I listed. "Angry that I can't please everyone. Agonized because I try anyway. Pissed because nothing seems to work out. Frustrated because someone always ends up hurt. Even if I don't like Tyler, I…I don't want him to suffer." I paused. "Well," I amended. "Not too much, anyway."

"You're too worried about everyone else," Jacob repeated. "Worry about yourself for a change."

"I can't. It's ingrained in me. Like a mother loving her child; I just can't _not_ care."

"Yeah," Paul laughed. "That's one of the things Seth loves about you. You care too much. About everything."

"I can't help it," I whispered. Paul pulled me tighter into his side and chuckled.

"Yeah, we know."

"The point is, Summer," Jacob said softly. He was twisting my blanket into little knots. "You just have to reassure Seth that you love him. And it's okay to remember Tyler and your old life, but you have to make up your mind what your future is going to be. No one is going to stop you from going back to Virginia-it's part of who you are, just like La Push is part of us. But you have to decide what you want, and you have to decide soon."


	29. Home Again

**This chapter and the last chapter are really choppy, and I'm sorry. While they very well could be separated into different chapters, I just don't have the energy for that. And, I know I have been saying it enough already, but these next few chapters will be the last ones. There will probably be an epilogue set a little into the future, but I'm not entirely sure. I'm also contemplating doing another imprint in the Safehouse world.**

**Check out my second imprint story, Hard to Love, in between chapters! I think you'll like it.**

**Also, if you have any moments that you want to see in this story, within reason, I would gladly take suggestions (i.e. The Cullens checking in, Summer giving heartfelt advice, Seth freaking out, etc...I don't care as long as it somehow fits into the story)**

Two days after my drunken night on the town with the girls, Colton and I boarded a plane headed straight for Virginia. Seth smiled as he dropped us off near the terminal and kissed me softly on the lips.

"Come home soon," he murmured against my lips. I laughed and followed Colton towards the boarding area.

When we touched down in Virginia, my heart felt too tight in my chest. Memories came rushing back as we took a cab to our huge old home and stepped out into the hot Virginia sun. As the heat settled around us and we acclimated ourselves, I reached under a small flower pot next to the front door and slipped a key out from under. As I unlocked the house and Colton moved past me to go inside, a large hole in my heart ripped open and oozed fresh. I followed my little brother who wasn't so little anymore into the house where we had spent our childhood. Due to my grandmother's assertion that the house always be ready to entertain, it was spotless, air conditioned, and just as we had left it two years ago. The pretty yellow roses were fresh, but were the only mark and telltale sign that the maid had been by recently.

I walked further into the grand entry and gazed around myself at the splendor that I had forgotten in two years on the run. How easy would it be to just resume my life here? To put on a pretty dress and go to a lavish Founder's Party and forget all about the running and the horror and the fighting…

I ran my fingers over the delicate crystal vases and smoothed my hand along the expensive draperies. The ornate Persian rug at my feet was plush and priceless. The glittering chandelier caught the fading sunlight and threw rainbows on the walls and double staircase. I hesitated before walking into the parlor, then the formal dining room, and circling back around to the formal living and sitting rooms. It was eerie that I had changed so much, but this big house was exactly the same.

I mounted the stairs with growing despair and passed into my room silently. The great windows overlooked the enormous backyard that backed onto woods and a huge pond. The water glinted orange and pink in the light of the setting sun. I could hear crickets and frogs from off in the distance. The scent of my favorite expensive perfume clung to the drapes and drifted over to me from across the room that could fit the entire living space in the house from Forks comfortably. My childhood and teenage bedroom was no stranger to luxury with the king-sized bed that had been passed down for generations and only changed with the mattress and bed coverings. My bedside tables were still cluttered with photos of my old friends and family. The closet door was ajar, just as I remembered it being, though only my fancy dresses and designer things remained inside. I had taken everything practical with me on the run.

My antique vanity and chair were welcoming; I took a seat and looked at myself in the mirror-really looked at myself-for the first time in ages. My skin was the same pale-but-somehow-a-little-tan as it always was, and my jade green eyes were still framed by my slim brows and dark lashes. My lips were still pink and heart-shaped, and my dark, almost black hair was long and hung to my waist in soft waves. But there was the nagging suspicion that there was something different and other about me, something that I couldn't quite place. The scars on my neck stood in sharp relief with the clear lighting of my bedroom. My eyes, though, seemed the most changed, but they had remained the same. They were the familiar green that stared at me from Colton's face and my mother's face, and my reflection, but they had lost something inside of them.

I debated and pondered over whether I was being melodramatic or not when Colton knocked lightly on my open door and I jumped. I could tell from his posture that he had been standing there a while, and I lowered my hands from my face slowly and clasped them together in my lap.

"You're different here," Colton mused as he walked in and sat on the heavy trunk at the foot of the bed. "Quieter. Moodier." He paused. "Not happy."

"Not really," I agreed with a half-smile devoid of any real joy. Colton nodded.

"I packed up the pictures from all of the rooms. The Historical Society can use this old place now, I guess."

"We don't have to let them," I said softly to my little brother. He shrugged.

"They'll give us money for it."

"We don't need money. Not after tomorrow," I reminded him. He laughed.

"Right. The big 1-8. You'll be in charge for real now."

"I have been in charge _for real_," I reminded him. He chuckled, full of smiles.

"Sure. That's what you _think_." I rolled my eyes and ignored him. "Sum, I thought I would be happy to be here, but this place is too damn depressing."

It took me a while to answer him, even though I could see the truth in his words.

"It's not the same…without mom and dad," I explained. "This place is lifeless…dead. It deserves to be toured by people like a museum. It is a museum. I'm glad the town can do something with it."

I realized that I had started to babble and I stopped.

The house was gorgeous. It was beautiful and elegant and meant for lavish parties and wealthy people and a happy family. The house was the epicenter for my past, for what my life had been. The little house in Forks, with its cramped floor plan (considering Seth and Colton and the pack were giants), and the way it always seemed to be a mess, and Seth's constant presence…it felt more like home than the huge old mansion did. I missed it immensely, and felt the keen longing for it deep in my chest.

* * *

We spent the night in our old home. I had some papers to sign in town the next day, when I was legally able to do so, and Colton and I spent the rest of the day packaging the old photos and things we wanted from the house to FedEx back to Forks. We hung out around town and saw people we hadn't seen in years and caught up. The tiny town where I had spent my childhood was definitely something I could not wait to escape. Colton and I played nice, like we had been raised to do, and then signed the house over to the Historical Society. They paid a pretty penny for the right to show people through it, and I knew that the extra income would be a nice bonus to have every now and then.

With the financial backing of our family accounts, and my full access to everything, I knew that I now could quit my job. Colton and I hopped on a plane to Washington soon after everything was settled, and had a nice late flight back to Forks.

* * *

At the little airport in Port Angeles, we were greeted by Seth, Leah, and Sam. Though I could practically feel the awkwardness and tension in the air, it was obvious that Sam was eager to see us again. I was tired, even with the sleep from the flight, and stumbled blindly into Seth's waiting arms. He kissed me and held me for a few minutes before towing me gently to the car, leaving Leah, Colton, and Sam at baggage claim.

Back at the house, Seth lounged around with me for the rest of the day. When he left for patrol, I called Sam over. He and I sat at the kitchen table, across from one another, while Colton sat in a seat between us, grinning from ear to ear. I had a small smile as well when I pulled a thick white envelope from my lap and slid it across the table in front of Sam.

He looked at it, confused, until Colton explained that it wasn't going to open itself.

Sam's eyes about popped out of his head when he realized that the bills were all hundreds and there were too many to spot-count.

"What…is this?" he asked, bewildered.

"Only a fraction of your inheritance," Colton gleefully exclaimed.

"Inheritance?"

"Our family was well-off. You're our brother, Sam. You're a part of this family," I explained softly.

"Your mother's family was rich. We share a father," he protested as he pushed the envelope back towards me. My hand stilled his and I caught his gaze with my eyes, halting his movements.

"You are blood, Sam. You are family. You are a part of us, just as we are a part of you. I promise, to make you feel better, I won't give you as much as Colton or me, but you are getting a substantial amount. You deserve it, even if you don't think you do."

"I…can't accept this."

"You can and you will. Dad would have wanted you to have it," Colton told him. He winked at me and began wheedling Sam. "Come on, man! You think Sum will be able to live with herself if you don't get some of the money? We have more than enough to live off of."

"Then why haven't you been using it? Why now? Why has Summer had a job in that bar in Port Angeles?" Sam demanded. His brows were pushed together, his expression not troubled but angered. I assumed it was his brotherly instincts coming out at long last. It couldn't be easy to only just find out in your twenties that you had two teenage half-siblings from your runaway father. Colton and I shared an uneasy look at his harsh questions. "You say I'm family, well I want to know. There shouldn't be secrets."

"No, you're right," I conceded immediately. Colton was surprised, but I continued. "We haven't been using it because we didn't have access to it. Legally or practically, I mean. I just turned eighteen, but we wouldn't have used it even before because it would have left a paper trail for our mother."

"Oh," was Sam's brilliant response.

* * *

Sam finally accepted the money, and I cooked dinner for the pack to give Emily a break. When everyone showed for dinner at six, I was immediately engulfed by large, hot bodies that were suffocating.

"Paul! Jacob!" I yelled as I pounded at their chests with my fists. They had made a Paul-Summer-Jacob sandwich, and I was the unlucky meat. "Let me out you baboons!"

"We're not monkeys!" Jacob protested jokingly.

"We're wolves!" Paul crowed.

"Whatever you are, you better back off before I beat you with my wooden spoon and deprive you of your dinner!" I shrieked. They backed off and hurriedly scampered off to the living room to hustle the younger guys over the video games. Emily embraced me gently, and her cool skin was a welcome change.

"Hey, Summer," she greeted me with a grin. She had witnessed the whole scene, apparently. "Do you need help with anything?"

"Can you go pull the thermostat down? I think they secretly converted my house into a sauna," I declared, fanning myself with my hand. Emily laughed and went in search of the thermostat while I finished up cooking and grabbed foam plates from the pantry. Seth hovered behind me, far enough away so I wouldn't sweat but close enough to anticipate my movements and do things for me as I moved around my suddenly cramped kitchen.

I managed to round up the pack into the living room as the house cooled off and served the imprints and Leah only at the kitchen table. Once the girls all had plates, I sat down and started to eat while the guys all jockeyed for food at the stove.

After dinner, Seth and Colton took up the first patrol while Jared took Kim home. Quil left to see little Claire, Embry took to the forest for a run, and Sam and Emily drove Collin and Brady home. I was left with Paul and Jacob, as per usual, and we sat on the sofa in silence before I put on some made-for-television movie.

Halfway through the movie, I felt suddenly nauseous and ran to the bathroom. Feverish, I threw up violently into the toilet for several minutes and then shakily stood and rinsed my mouth. Paul stood at the bathroom door, shocked, while I turned around and wretched again, dry heaving this time.

Jacob and Paul hastened to clean the kitchen and living room and turn off the lights before practically throwing me into bed. While Paul ran out and switched off for patrol with Seth, Jacob stayed at my side with a small trashcan to catch anything if I felt sick again. We must have stared at each other awkwardly for ten minutes while we waited for Seth's return. Jacob stood anxiously three feet from the bed while I watched him, tucked under four blankets and my comforter, practically hidden but for my eyes and hair on the pillow that supported my neck.

When Seth walked into the room, I felt a little better. Jacob shoved the trashcan into his hands, kissed my forehead, and fled the house.

"You doing okay? Paul said you were sick."

"I'm alright now," I said, sitting up and pushing the blankets down. The guys tried to suffocate me, first with their bodies and now with blankets-I couldn't win!

"Do you want me to stay with you? Paul said that he'll take my patrol."

"Sure," I whispered. I scooted over to my side of the bed while Seth threw the blankets to the floor and then crawled in beside me. His warm hands finding my belly under the covers felt nice, especially when he began to softly rub circles all over it. I fell asleep under Seth's little massage and didn't wake up for hours.

* * *

Summer knocked out five minutes after I began rubbing her stomach. She sighed quietly as I stopped and then turned over with her back to me. I spooned her and pulled her against me carefully so that she wouldn't get cold, and then snuggled into her soft warmth.

Ever since Tyler had visited, we hadn't been as close as usual. What with her mother attacking her, Colton's first shifting, and the two of them leaving for Virginia, we hadn't really had the chance to cuddle lately, which didn't make me feel too great. Cuddling always eased my fears that Summer would one day pick up and leave, which was never a good thought to have, especially when said girl took her brother across the country to their hometown to "settle the finances". I hadn't been thrilled with her departure, but Colton had given me a play-by-play of the two days I had missed out on, and I felt a little better after that.

Their past life, huge home, and obvious wealth left me stunned and feeling inadequate. Although Colt assured me that Summer loved me and wouldn't dream of moving back to Virginia, it was hard not to have doubts. They had a cool life there; fancy parties, fancy clothes, fancy friends. They had things that I couldn't give her here in this tiny town with no job and no money. All I had to offer was myself, and even with the imprint, I wasn't sure that was enough. Summer and Colton had history and roots in Virginia. In Washington, they had me and Sam. Somehow, I didn't feel that we measured up.

Summer flipped over, which was different, and snuggled down into my chest. Her soft breaths fanned out over my bare skin and her ear pressed right over where my heart was. She smiled in her sleep, and I felt peaceful.

No matter how much I thought that Summer belonged here, I knew that I couldn't cage her. She wasn't tame like a house pet or docile like the other imprints. Summer, though groomed and wealthy, was wild at heart and had a wandering spirit. And for as much as I loved her for it, it completely scared the crap out of me.

And, desperate as I was to keep her, I knew that deep down, if she really wanted to leave me, I would let her.


	30. Happy Birthday, Summer

**The end is near...**

**Thanks for your continued support! I can't wait to see what everyone thinks of this chapter! It was a lot of fun to write :)**

"Good morning sunshine. How are you today?" I asked Seth lightly as he walked into the kitchen, bleary-eyed and rubbing his face with both hands. His muscles rolled in his arms and stretched as he pushed his hands up to touch the ceiling. His palms rested flat against the ceiling without even going on his tippy toes.

"Something smells good," Seth murmured as he walked closer to me. I turned back to the scrambled eggs, pancakes, and bacon I was making-simultaneously-on the stove.

"This is talent," I told Seth mock-proudly as I slid the eggs and pancakes onto a huge dinner plate. I flipped all of the bacon onto the plate and then handed it to him with a bright smile.

"It certainly is. This is all for me?" he asked in disbelief. I laughed and nodded.

"Yeah. I've already eaten. I guess that was a passing bug last night. I woke up starving." Seth had already made it to the table and was drowning his pancakes in butter and syrup. It didn't seem to bother him that his eggs were also getting their own small lake of syrup. Sometimes, Seth ate more like a wolf than a man.

"You're feeling better already?" he asked, surprised. I nodded as I turned off the fire under the pans and began washing dishes.

"Yep," I chirped as I turned the radio on and plunged elbow-deep into dirty dishes.

"Where's Colt?" Seth asked when I started to dry the dishes. I turned the radio down automatically.

"He stumbled in at four in the morning going on about running in 'the same damned circle' all night long, and ate all of the leftovers before collapsing. You were completely out."

"You were up at four?"

"Yeah, I've been up since he came in. I'm just full of energy this morning."

"Is this normal?" Seth asked me doubtfully. I shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Is this because you had a birthday and failed to mention it to me?" Seth asked lightly. I could hear the smirk in his voice though, and turned to see him mock-glaring as he smiled at me. I blushed, feeling my cheeks get red-hot.

"Um."

"Yes, um. Why didn't you tell me?"

"It…isn't that important."

"Being able to quit that crap job isn't important?" he demanded drily. I dried off my hands and tucked my straight hair behind my ears.

"I guess it is. I don't know, it just doesn't seem like a big deal. I feel older. I've felt older since we left Virginia the first time. Now it's just…legal, I guess."

"We should celebrate," Seth stated. I rolled my eyes.

"I don't need a party, Seth. I just need you. And I have you, so…"

"Fine, fine," he said, waving off the situation. Something told me that he wasn't going to let it go, though. I put that to the back of my mind as I moved around the house, cleaning and tidying as I went; it had become a disaster zone in the past few weeks, and I was in that obsessive, energy-fused cleaning mood.

Seth hung around for a while and took a short nap while I dusted and cleaned the bathrooms. When I took the vacuum out, he evacuated the building.

"I'm going home to see my mom," he said as he leaned down to kiss me.

"Are you coming over later?" I asked lightly as I moved the furniture while the vacuum was off.

"Um, probably. I'll see you later."

"Bye!"

* * *

When the house was clean and I had run out of laundry to do, I called into the bar and officially quit. That feeling of being done with something had never felt so sweet. For the rest of the day, I sat around the house doing absolutely nothing and waited for the moment when one of the pack would storm through my front door and entertain me, or at least humor me with their antics.

I didn't have to wait long. At noon, Jacob and Embry burst in through the back door and collapsed on either side of me on the sofa. I flicked the channel to a car show for them and waited for them to speak.

"Happy birthday, Sum," Embry told me without taking his eyes off the TV. His eyes looked glazed, and I decided that he was delirious and needed food.

"Thanks," I said flatly as I stood and got him a plate of food from the kitchen. I made him and Jacob each a huge sandwich stuffed with deli meat and brought it out to them with a bag of chips. Embry devoured his food but Jacob placed his plate on the coffee table and turned to look at me.

"You're better today."

"I guess I am."

"The house smells like bleach."

"Yes, it does."

"You're just…off."

"I feel off."

We stared at each other for a long while and Embry studiously ignored us. Seth walked in through the front door just minutes later with Leah, grinning ear to ear.

"Happy birthday!" they chorused.

"My birthday was two days ago," I reminded them with a smile as I crossed the room in a run and threw my arms around Leah. She stumbled from my tackle but caught me and hugged me back. "Hooray for unemployment!" I shouted in joy as Seth's eyes widened and he picked me up and spun me around the room. I giggled as he buried his face in my hair and whispered sweet nothings that everyone could hear into my ear. Seth pulled me tight against his body and then released me to plop down in my seat on the sofa.

"Happy birthday, Sum!" Paul and Jared shouted obnoxiously as they entered from the back door. Kim was on Jared's heels and Quil was carrying Claire behind her. Paul had a huge collection of balloons that he was tugging along. There were shiny pink hearts, bright red presents, and a few silver ones with expressions like "happy birthday, princess!" and "blow out your candles". He tied them to the kitchen chairs and then tackled me, still in Seth's lap, on the sofa. I was squished beneath Paul and above Seth and between Jacob and Embry.

Last but not least by any means, my two brothers came in from the front door with Collin, Brady, and Emily trailing after them. Colton laughed and extricated me from the mass of Quileute bodies only to throw me into a group hug with him, Collin, and Brady. After they had completely wiped my lungs from air, Sam smiled tentatively at me and waited while Emily hugged me with one arm and then brought a big white bakery box into the kitchen. Brady and Collin trailed after her with big Tupperware containers filled with food.

"Happy birthday, Summer," Sam smiled bashfully. I grinned up at my newest and oldest brother and punched him lightly on the arm.

"Don't tell me you're the one that spilled the beans," I teased.

"The wolf's out the bag, now!" Embry joked from the sofa. I rolled my eyes in his general direction and then threw myself into Sam's arms. He caught me, surprised, but embraced me back softly. I could tell he didn't have a clue what to do with me.

Billy and Sue turned up after a few more minutes, and I stepped into the happy hostess role quickly. Seth hovered beside me, watching me flit back and forth from small group to small group. Just as the party was winding down and we were cutting cake, I felt a wave of sickness hit me all of a sudden. Stunned, I fled the table mid-song and lurched down the hallway to the bathroom. I shut and locked the door behind myself before spilling my guts into the toilet. My stomach churned uncertainly and I waited for more to come up.

A small box in a wicker basket on the storage unit caught my eye. I hesitantly reached inside and pulled out the bright pink and green box.

Mentally, I felt it was impossible.

Physically, I knew it had happened.

Emotionally, I was a mess.

A soft knock on the door had me flushing the toilet and throwing the box back into the wicker basket hurriedly.

"Summer?"

"Just a minute!" I called carefully as I washed my face and tried to smile at my reflection in the mirror. What I meant to be a happy, excited smile was a grimace that spoke volumes. "Who is it?" I called at the knocker.

"It's Sam. Are you alright?"

"Um, I don't think so Sam!" My voice sounded hysterical, even to my ears, and I took deep, calming breaths. "I think I just need some time, Sam. I don't feel well."

"Do you want us to pack up and leave? We can finish this tomorrow afternoon if you'd like!" His voice was anxious, worried.

"Yes! Tell Seth and Colt they should take the first patrol tonight! I'll be okay by myself."

"Summer, are you sure? I don't think you're well enough to be alone."

I cracked the door open so that I could peek out at Sam with one eye. His tall frame was hunched over, offering the illusion of privacy in a house where pretty much everyone knew what was going on. His eyes were soft, sympathetic, and comforting, yet very uncertain. Sam was still struggling to fill this older brother role that he had been shoved into unexpectedly twenty-three years into his life. More than anything, though, I could feel his genuine worry for me, and that was what made all of this okay.

"I just need to be alone," I whispered. I knew that he could hear me, even though I was practically whispering to the door. Sam nodded slowly.

"If you think so."

"I know so."

"Alright," he agreed.

Sam walked back down the short hallway to the kitchen and the waiting pack and I quickly shut and locked the door again. I heard the movement in the kitchen, the sound of people leaving, the murmurs of Emily and Kim in the kitchen, the clanging of the dishes and pans being put away.

When all was quiet in my house, I finally dared to flush the toilet and exit the bathroom. Just as I had requested, Seth and Colton had taken the first shift for patrols, leaving me completely alone in the house. I knew that Seth would be back as soon as he could tear himself away from the patrol route to get back to me, so I really only had four hours.

It was five o'clock. I had enough time to run to the grocery store and back.

* * *

Once finally in my car, I held my phone in my palm, staring at it nervously. Despite Leah's best efforts, she really couldn't keep a secret from the guys. And I loved Emily and Kim, but they wouldn't be able to resist spilling to Sam or Jared. Claire was little more than a baby and absolutely no help to me whatsoever. I glanced across the street at a rusty old red Chevy truck and sighed.

I honked loudly in the driveway before running up the steps to the front door. Bella answered, as I knew she would, and looked surprised to see me. I couldn't blame her. I hadn't spoken to her since the newborn battle a few weeks back.

"Bella," I said softly. She looked at me, her brown eyes wide and not judgmental, as I gathered my courage. "I need your help. Can you come with me?"

"Of course, Summer. Let me grab my bag."

Coat and purse in hand, Bella followed me into my car and settled in for the drive to Port Angeles. I ignored the wolves twisting through the trees and brush on either side of the highway, following my car until the town limits stopped them. Bella waited until I had turned the radio down, quieting Ed Sheeran's crooning into soft background music.

"Can I ask where we're going?" she asked softly. My hands tightened on the wheel, clutching desperately.

"Port Angeles. We won't be known there. I have to go to the store," I explained.

Bella nodded, taking my cryptic answer in stride. She didn't ask any more about what we were doing at five o'clock on a Sunday afternoon and she didn't say anything when my foot pressed the gas down harder and we inched steadily above the speed limit.

"How's your brother?" Bella asked conversationally as I caught sight of a police car and slowed my speed.

I snorted derisively. "Which one?" I demanded harsher than I intended. Bella's brown eyes widened and I felt them examining my profile in the dim half-light of the setting sun.

"Um… I didn't realize…"

"My dad was a man whore, I guess. He abandoned Sam and then shacked up with my mom," I said quietly. My voice was calm but dead. Bella shivered and I adjusted the temperature in the car.

"Oh."

"Yeah. My mom is dead. Finally. Colton and the others killed her about a week ago."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Colton's running patrol with Seth right now."

"_OH_," Bella breathed. I stole a glance at her shocked face as I took the Port Angeles exit and drove carefully into town. I stuck to the area closest to the water and parked at a small supermarket not far from the pier. Bella followed woodenly as I stalked into the store and casually meandered down the aisles with a shopping basket in hand.

"I've felt off the past couple of days," I told her simply as we made our way to the women's health aisle. Bella stiffened as we stopped at the beginning of the aisle. The cold air from the dairy just behind us made me shiver in cold and in dread. I tiptoed cautiously down the aisle and stopped halfway down.

Bella looked at the shelves with me, and I could feel her understanding wash over me. The secretive nature of this spontaneous trip, the distance from Forks and La Push, the need to have a companion-even someone I didn't speak to very much-everything clicked for her as we looked at the variety of the product and the different brands.

Something inside of Bella clicked into place as she took the little basket from me and carefully selected two different boxes from the shelf. One box was blue, the other pink.

I realized that Bella was used to being the adult, the grown up, the authority figure. She seemed oddly maternal to me as she wrapped an arm around my shoulders and guided me to the registers. She placed the basket on the belt and tossed in two candy bars and two cokes from the cooler. She pulled her wallet from her bag and extricated a shiny black credit card and swiped after the bored cashier ran up the items. Bella shoved the receipt into the bottom of her purse, replaced the card and her wallet, and handed me the bag gently. She towed me tenderly back out to the car in the twilight evening and slid into the passenger seat.

"Head over to that diner down the road," she instructed me gently but firmly. I mechanically drove the car to where she had directed and followed her as she led the way inside. I clutched the plastic grocery bag to my person and followed Bella to a corner booth. Dimly, I remembered being in the same diner before. With Seth. That was the night I had revealed that I knew his secret, and I had finally told him my name.

I stared out of the window as Bella ordered two glasses of water and two cups of coffee. The twilight made me sentimental and almost morbid…my life was ending as I knew it. Tomorrow, everything would be different.

"Here, drink," Bella ordered softly as she pushed a glass of water to me. I sipped frantically on the straw and sighed when I pulled up air. Bella pushed the other glass to me and I repeated the actions.

Her long brown hair was pulled to one side and her large brown eyes were focused on me. I registered that she had gone through changes as well, most noticeable was the large, oval shaped, diamond encrusted ring on her left ring finger. I ignored it, sensing her not wanting to talk about it, and refocused on her eyes.

"You've had a rough few months, haven't you?" she asked quietly.

"There's something about this place…" Bella smirked and I knew she understood the lure and the supernatural in Forks-La Push. She understood better than anyone else. I had been sucked up into this world with little choice in the matter, but like Bella, I wouldn't go back to normalcy for anything.

My heart fluttered as I registered that I-have-to-pee feeling in my gut. Bella smiled encouragingly as I stood and walked to the bathroom.

When I sat back down at the table two minutes later with clean hands and two boxes stuffed back into the grocery bag, Bella set a little alarm on her phone. We shared a slice of apple pie and watched the sun finish setting on the water in the harbor.

I realized slowly that it didn't matter what the answer was. Seth loved me; I loved him; and come what may, that wouldn't change. I had two wonderful brothers, and could even count four if I wanted… Colton, Sam, Jacob, and Paul would stand behind me. Emily would help, and Kim would still talk to me.

I had a family, and they would support me. This anxiety over the issue shouldn't have affected me the way it did. I was graduating in two weeks anyway.

The timer on Bella's phone went off. I opened the bag and then the boxes.


	31. What is Wrong

**Thanks for the reviews guys! I hope you figured out what has Summer so crazy at the moment!**

The ride home was spent downing the candy bars and cokes Bella had bought at the supermarket while pumping the radio as loud as it would go. Bella drove while I stared out the window in complete silence. After half an hour of blasting pop hits on the radio, I turned to Bella abruptly and turned the music down.

"I don't want to go home tonight," I decided simply. Bella startled as she made her way down the highway, winding towards Forks.

"Uh. Okay," she said softly. "Where would you like to go?" she asked logically as she turned the blinker on and switched lanes.

"I don't know. I just don't want to be around Colton and Seth. They worry too much."

"Well…" Bella hesitated.

"Can you just drive to Jacob's? I'll spend the night there."

"Okay," Bella agreed easily. I could tell she liked the idea of me staying at Jacob's; she trusted him.

We stopped at my house to drop off my car, pack me an overnight bag, leave a note, and pick up Bella's truck. She drove down to La Push for me, making idle chit-chat about nothing in particular while the miles flew underneath us. I was thankful for her senseless chattering; it gave my mind a place to wander without having to think of the inevitable.

When we pulled up to Jacob's, I noticed that his bedroom light was still on, and sighed in relief. Bella smiled gently at me and hugged me sweetly.

"Keep me posted. Call me whenever," she murmured softly as I nodded into her shoulder and grabbed my overnight bag. I had already stuffed the grocery bag deep into the pits of my overnight bag so no one could find it. Bella pulled away as Jacob's front door opened and I looked up at him with a frown.

"Can I stay here tonight?" I asked softly as I slowly made my way up the front walk.

"Um, yeah. Of course!" he paused. "Why?"

"I don't feel like dealing with my brother. Or Seth right now. He'll hover and I'm…fine really. I just want peace and quiet? Can I bum the night on your couch?"

Jacob laughed, that beautiful, ringing, happy, deep laugh and I smiled.

"Yeah, Summer, not a problem."

Jacob welcomed me inside and set me up in his twin bed while he took the floor in front of me. He claimed that he couldn't, in good conscience, allow me to sleep on the floor, and he couldn't even think of being away from me while there was even the possibility of me being sick- Seth would kill him and frankly, he cared about me too.

We fell asleep to the musical sound of soft howling deep in the woods of La Push.

* * *

"Where is she? Is she here? Don't test me, Jacob! I'm freaking out! Is Summer here?"

"Seth, chill out. Of course she's here. Bella dropped her off last night."

The bedroom door swung open and I jumped in the bed, shocked he had made it across the house that quickly. I rolled over slowly in Jacob's bed to look at Seth. My poor boyfriend's hair was sticking straight up in several places, with a leaf wedged in on the top of his head. His face looked positively drained and a little pale for his normal coloring, and he had bags under his eyes that were an unpleasant shade of grayish purple. Seth's hands were shaking and quaking, and even his shoulders seemed to be moving and quivering with the effort to not phase. As his eyes locked on mine after giving me a long once-over, however, the shaking subsided and Seth dropped to his knees in the doorway to Jacob's bedroom. I sat up slowly in the bed.

"Sorry," Seth said, blushing. "I didn't mean to wake you up. You can go back to sleep if you want."

"That's okay," I croaked out. I cleared my throat. "I'm awake now."

Seth guiltily followed me into the kitchen where Jacob had poured me a bowl of cereal. I spooned Frosted Flakes into my mouth without emotion and silently stared at Jacob's fingers, which he was drumming on the countertop right in front of me.

When I finished my cereal, Jacob took the bowl and spoon away while Seth sat beside me.

"You didn't come home last night." His tone was not accusing, it was anxious…worried. I had kept him up all night wondering about my whereabouts.

"I left a note."

"I know. But you said you would be out. You didn't say where."

"Sorry."

"Summer…" Seth trailed off uncertainly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, Seth. I'm fine. Look, I'm just going to hang out with Jake this morning, okay? I need some time with him. Can I just meet you at Sam's later for lunch, please?" I felt like a horrible girlfriend sending Seth away and an even worse imprint, but I still needed time to think and process what all was going on. My world had been rocked, and I needed adjustment time before I started worrying about other people as well. Jacob, at least, wouldn't pry for information like Seth would. I loved Seth with my whole heart, but he wanted to know how I was feeling before I knew what I was feeling myself.

"Um…I'll meet you there. Bye," he said softly as he leaned over and kissed my forehead. I tilted my head back and caught his lips with my own, but he kept it short and sweet and kissed my cheek as well before heading out the door. I watched him through the windows as he walked into the forest and disappeared from my view within seconds. Jacob's eyes on my face felt like lasers meant to melt me. I stiffened.

"Yes, I'm a horrible person. I need time away from him for a bit. I'm sorry," I said, feeling angry tears spring into my eyes without warning. Before I knew what was happening, I was sobbing into Jacob's chest, littering his faded blue t-shirt with salty tears and heaving sobs.

"Hey, hey, Sum," Jacob soothed me softly in a crooning voice. "You're not a horrible person. Everyone needs a break now and then, especially imprints! Imprinting is intense, and you've done so well with all of this. What with your brother phasing and finding out you have a half-brother and your mother…well, it's understandable. You need space, and Seth is happy to give that to you. He's just not sure space is what you really need."

"I'm just- trying- to figure- everything- out," I panted and huffed as I sobbed. Jacob's warm hand rubbed soothing circles on my back as he consoled me further.

"I know, Sum, I know. Take your time. Seth wants you to feel better, okay? But you're not helping anyone if you make yourself sick by crying."

As quickly as I had started crying, I stopped completely. My tears dried up and I looked up into Jacob's smiling brown eyes and sighed. Our bond had only strengthened by growing closer in friendship, and I knew that he could feel his ties to me getting stronger by the day. I wondered idly if he realized the consequences of me saving him from pain and possible death at the newborn battle, or if he thought it was just done and over with in that moment.

I wondered if he realized that healing him was the start of a chain of events that was still unraveling, even at the point we were at. I decided that Jacob probably didn't realize just how special he was to the tribe, to his family, to the pack, to his friends, and to me in particular.

"There now," Jacob smiled when I stopped sobbing and heaving deep breaths. "You're okay," he cooed as he stroked the tears off of my cheeks. "You're alright, Sum. Everything is going to be okay. I promise."

* * *

When Jacob and I walked into Sam's house later, it was eerily empty. Emily was out, Sam was sitting at the kitchen table with Seth, and Embry was lounging on the sofa. Sam and Seth were speaking in low voices while Embry had the volume of the TV up. The kitchen smelled like lemon cleaner, not food, and I felt that something was amiss; Emily was always cooking.

"Hello, Summer," Sam said in his deep, bone-shaking voice. I felt my lips turn up slightly and I went over to my brother immediately to wrap him in a hug. Thinking of Sam as my brother was still taking some getting used to, but he was just like a rock in the midst of a storm; he was grounded and solid and dependable. The stability in his personality helped me to feel comfortable around him and our new situation. His pleasant smile relaxed me as I settled on his side opposite from Seth. I placed my palms flat on the table and stared straight at Seth.

"We need to talk. Jacob, sit down."

"Embry, get out!" Sam ordered.

"I never get to stay for the good stuff," he complained in a mutter as he winked at me and jogged out the back door. I rolled my eyes and then focused on the three pairs staring at me. I took a long, deep breath.

"This is probably going to be a very uncomfortable conversation," I said softly, wringing my fingers. Sam placed his hand over mine, stilling my fingers and forcing me to look up at him.

"Whatever you need to tell us, you can tell us," he assured me softly. I nodded woodenly and felt tears spring into my eyes.

"I've never had a regular period. I've been on birth control since I was sixteen to try to regulate it. So I wasn't concerned when I missed two months. It's happened before, even with the birth control. But something that I had forgotten about magic is that it can mess with any medicine you take. When I practice magic, painkillers don't work as well, antibiotics have different effects, and…birth control can become ineffective."

"Summer, what are you saying exactly?" Sam asked, shaking his head in confusion. I was met with two blank stares from Seth and Jacob. None of them were getting it.

"Do I need to spell it out? Because I'm still trying to wrap _my_ head around it," I said frantically. I could feel the hysteria bubbling up inside of me. Apparently, Seth felt it too, because he reached over the table and took one of my hands into his quickly. There was silence from the three men staring at me. I took a deep breath.

"I'm pregnant."


	32. Epilogue

**I know, I didn't think this would be ending so soon, either. Wow. I know. It was sudden and unexpected, but this just felt right, ending it here. Summer's story is at its natural end; even when she got pregnant, writing about the pregnancy or the baby never felt right to me. Although it saddens me to write the closing of this story, I am ecstatic to announce the new story I'm working on, Keeping it Together, which will take place in the Safehouse world. It is not up yet on my profile, but the first chapter and summary will be up in the next few days (so if it seems to be calling your name, Summer fans, make sure to put me on alert). And, if you're looking for something else, see my profile for my other imprint stories; I have Hard to Love (a Paul/OC imprint story with a witch), and Healing What is Broken (a Seth/OC/Paul love triangle bursting with mystery and supernatural).**

**Additionally, I would like to extend my thanks to all of you who reviewed and stuck by this story even when it went off the rails (Summer's mom, I know, was insane. Crazy. A complete lunatic.) I would like to acknowledge those who reviewed multiple times, and always responded with enthusiasm to my sporadic updates: WhiteDusk8888, piggielover98, Avalongirl55, VballBabe44, xXJustaWriterxX, Lalina92, and everyone else. I hope you have all enjoyed Seth and Summer's story as much as I have enjoyed writing it.**

**Without further ado, the Epilogue.**

"Pr-_pregnant_?" Seth asked, shocked.

The kitchen chair flipped back, my fingers stung as his hand left abruptly, and the front door slammed. Distantly, a howl rang through the air, and I sighed. Within an hour, the whole pack would know.

"Well," I sighed. "That went well."

"Don't feel bad," Jacob comforted me immediately with soulful brown eyes. "He's just surprised."

"I know," I said, shaking my head. "I did the same thing, didn't I?"

"Wait, when did you find out?" Sam asked. I gave him an unsure look.

"Last night. Before I went to Jake's. Why?"

"That's why you've been sick," Sam said to himself.

"Hey guys! What's up with Seth?" Embry asked with a grin as he slid across Emily's counter and grabbed a muffin from the basket. He looked at me, Sam, and Jacob, and then back at me. "Are you okay?" he asked suddenly, rushing to my side. "You're not still sick, are you? I can drive you to the hospital if you want!"

"Embry, I'm okay," I comforted him, patting the hand that was tight on my shoulder. Embry still seemed unsure, and he hesitated, frowning. I rolled my eyes and looked at Jacob for assistance.

"Embry, when a guy and a girl really, really love each other…" Jake started off. My eyes widened as he attempted to hold in his laughter. Embry looked, confused, between Sam and Jake. "…They do this thing…"

"Jacob, that's enough," Sam interjected. He looked at Embry. "Summer and Seth are _expecting_."

"Expecting a what? A package? Why is Seth running away?" Embry rolled his eyes. I face-planted the table. How. Could. These. Boys. Be. So. Dense.

"A baby, Embry. They're expecting a baby," Jacob growled out, his own face surprised with his dense friend.

Embry dropped the muffin that was in his hand, and it landed with a barely audible splat against the kitchen floor. With Jacob's simple declaration, the house itself seemed to hush. And along with the house growing quiet, my brain seemed to as well. A baby.

I knew that pregnancy led to babies. It was a fact of life that I had been witness to already, a couple of times. I knew that man plus woman equaled pregnant and pregnant equaled baby, but it felt like that only happened to adults. Teenage pregnancy only seemed to mean doctors' appointments, diapers, and bottles. Babies seemed so strange and foreign. What the hell was I going to do with a baby?

My jumbled thoughts halted to a close when Leah threw open the front door and looked wildly around the house before her eyes landed on me. The livid look on her face didn't inspire fear in me, but mild annoyance that she had the indecency to have dirt smeared across her arms and face. Her inside-out shirt and unbuttoned denim shorts spoke of the urgency to get to Sam's, and I felt her tension as she plopped down in the vacant chair beside me. The jolt of her chair meeting mine made a shock go through me, but I wasn't expecting Leah's arm to cradle me back into her, her head resting on top of mine. The look on my face must have been comical.

"I'll kill him if you want," she offered in a whisper so hushed, I knew I was the only one who had heard. A hysterical laugh fell from my lips before I could stop it. Leah's rock-hard arms held me still while the room and the earth shifted around me. The thought of Seth being murdered by his own sister because I had been stupid enough to get pregnant almost made me laugh. Really, though, I was drained and frustrated and just downright tired again.

"Who knows now?" I asked; my voice bitter. I wasn't sure what exactly I was feeling, but I knew that I wasn't happy. Not angry, per se, but definitely in that corner of emotion.

"Just me. No one else phased in; everyone could tell it was just Seth and not a calling. He's just being a baby."

The word once again startled me. Baby. All of this would end with one thing; a baby.

* * *

Later that night, at home in bed without Seth, I opened the curtains and looked out of my window at the street. The dim glow of the streetlight illuminated the darkness just enough that I could make out Bella's house, down the street and just a few houses down. There were no lights on at this late hour, and as my gaze roamed the street, they settled on the dark forest on the dead end.

My memories skipped along through time, calling to mind my arrival in Forks with Colton, my horrid job at the bar in Port Angeles, meeting Bella and the Cullens, meeting Seth and the pack, giving in to the imprint, and all that had happened that led to this moment; me, sitting in my bedroom, alone and trying to predict the future.

I felt rather than heard him enter the room. Curled up as I was, knees to chest and arms around my ankles, I wasn't in the position to look at the door. With my chin resting on my knees, I didn't want to turn, and I knew that he understood that even though I was looking away from him, all had been forgiven and forgotten the second the door had shut behind him. There was no anger, no bitterness, no discomfort or unhappiness. His reaction just was, just as mine had been the night before. Our worlds were changing, morphing and slipping beneath our feet, and for as different as we were, we had reacted in the same way.

Both of us had needed to be alone.

He climbed into the bed behind me and placed his legs on either side of me. His long arms stretched to circle around mine, holding me to him as I was holding myself together. My back pressed to his hot chest and I allowed my neck to loll back, to relax against his shoulder. The heat that enveloped me relaxed me, loosening my stiff muscles. Seth looked out the window with me as well, and he knew that his apology was not necessary.

The options that always seemed viable to other teenage girls were not for me. Abortion, adoption, any of those had never occurred to me. The thought of what was growing inside of me-baby-not being mine to keep with Seth…the thought had me recoiling before I could finish the possibility. No matter the cost, the trouble, the looks we would get…none of it mattered. The baby-our baby-was ours.

Come what may; his mother's opinion, my brother's opinion…we would get through it together. In that moment, as I thought back on all of my decisions that led me to this point, all of the chance encounters and fate-like nudges that landed me in this moment, I thought that I wouldn't ever go back and change any of it. Every single moment of my life seemed like a drop in the ocean that had gotten me here. Whether directly (having sex) or indirectly (moving to Forks), my decisions, my moments, my memories, had brought me here. And I wouldn't change a thing.

"We'll get through this," he whispered. "I'm going to be everything you need me to be. This is what's right. I love you."

Mulling over his words, I felt the truth of them press at me from all sides, cradling me just as his arms were doing. We would get through this and do our best. This was what was right. This was our life. It was harder than I thought it would be, it was different than anything I could have dreamed up as a child, but it was just what I needed and everything that I wanted.

"I love you, too."


End file.
